Report on Unauthorized Immigrant Population

The Pew Hispanic Center has released its most recent report on the unauthorized immigrant population.  As of March 2010, there were an estimated 11.2 unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., a number unchanged from the year prior.   This lack of change follows two years of decline from a high of an estimated 12 million in 2007.  According to the report, unauthorized immigrants were 3.7% of the nation’s population in 2010 and 5.2% of the labor force (down from the peak of 8.4% in 2007).

Additional key points of the report include:

• The number of unauthorized immigrants decreased from 2007 to 2010 in Colorado, Florida, New York and Virginia. The combined population in three contiguous Mountain West states-Arizona, Nevada and Utah-also declined.
• In contrast to the national trend, the combined unauthorized immigrant population in three contiguous West South Central states-Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas-grew from 2007 to 2010.
• Although the number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. is below 2007 levels, it has tripled since 1990, when it was 3.5 million and grown by a third since 2000, when it was 8.4 million.

The complete report is available online in PDF format.