The Pew Hispanic Center held a press conference Tuesday to release a study that estimates the overall number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. as of March 2010 at about 11.2 million people, the same number for the previous year. #
About 825,000 of that total unauthorized immigrant population lives in Florida. #
The report indicates: #
The four individual states where the number of unauthorized immigrants declined from March 2007 to March 2010 were New York, Florida, Virginia, and Colorado. #
Florida had an estimated 825,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2010, a decline from 1.05 million in 2007. Nevertheless, Florida continued to rank third among states in the size of its unauthorized immigrant population. New York’s estimated unauthorized immigrant population in 2010, 625,000, which declined from an estimated 825,000 in 2007. New York ranked fourth in the size of its unauthorized population in 2010, as it did in 2007. #
This new report shows that 230,000 unauthorized immigrants left Florida and that it ranked eighth among states with the largest share of unauthorized immigrants in the population. #
By March 2010, unauthorized immigrant workers represented about 5.2 percent (8 million workers) of the U.S. labor force. California has the largest number of unauthorized immigrant workers (1.85 million), followed by Texas (1.1 million), Florida (600,000), and New York (450,000.). The number of unauthorized immigrant workers in Florida represents about 6.6 percent of the state’s workforce. #
Unauthorized immigrants also tend to be young, married, and in the age range to have children. The report indicates that newborns with at least one unauthorized parent represent 8 percent of all births in the U.S. from March 2009 through March 2010. #
The report’s authors said during the press conference that common sense suggests that the economic situation and increased border enforcement account for the decline in unauthorized immigration numbers, but they would not speculate about those issues. #
The report used the Department of Homeland Security and historical data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service as well as the Current Population Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau. #
