Top 10 states by numbers of illegal immigrants as of January 2010
California, 2.9 million
Texas, 1.6 million
Florida, 1 million
New York, 705,000
Illinois, 585,000
New Jersey, 411,000
Georgia 397,000
North Carolina, 371,000
Arizona, 339,000
Virginia, 267,000
Source: “Unauthorized Immigration to the United States: Annual Estimates and Components of Change, by State, 1990 to 2010,” by Robert Warren and John Warren
Illegal immigrants in Georgia
1990: 34,000
1995: 115,901
2000: 250,604
2005: 373,851
2010: 396,876
Source: “Unauthorized Immigration to the United States: Annual Estimates and Components of Change, by State, 1990 to 2010,” by Robert Warren and John Warren
Georgia’s population of illegal immigrants grew faster than all but six other states’ over the past two decades, according to a new study to be released Friday. That analysis comes as Congress is considering proposals to create a pathway to citizenship for all the illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
The report, expected to be published in International Migration Review this week, estimates that 396,876 illegal immigrants lived in Georgia in 2010 — more than 11 times as many as in 1990.
Nearly two-thirds of the nation’s estimated 11.7 million illegal immigrants lived in Georgia and six other states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois and New Jersey.
The report also notes a decline in the number of illegal immigrants coming to Georgia and most other states between 2000 and 2009, accompanied by an increase in the number who left. Overall, the nation lost more illegal immigrants than it gained in both 2008 and 2009, the study shows.
Based on census data and other information, the study cites several possible reasons for the decline: increased immigration enforcement, heightened security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the nation’s struggling economy.
“The report offers policymakers and the public an important baseline of evidence at a time of intensifying debate on immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for the unauthorized,” said Donald Kerwin, executive director of the Center for Migration Studies, which publishes International Migration Review. The Center describes itself as an educational institute that supports migrant rights.
The report’s findings are comparable to the conclusions of other reports from recent years. For example, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that Georgia was home to 425,000 illegal immigrants in 2010. And the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported last year that Georgia had 440,000 as of January 2011.
The new report drew mixed reactions in Georgia, which in 2011 enacted sweeping legislation aimed at driving illegal immigrants out of the state.
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss has been outspoken in support of national border security during the congressional debate over immigration.
“Statistics regarding the number of illegal immigrants currently in Georgia, and the United States as a whole, serve as a stark reminder that border security and ensuring the enforcement of existing laws must be a part of our immigration policy,” he said in a prepared statement.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, said the report demonstrates the need for overhauling the nation’s immigration system.
“We know that millions of people are here, and there is no humane way to send them back,” he said in a prepared statement. “We know they come here illegally, but we also know that they labor in the fields, factories, hallways and businesses of America. They pay sales tax, property tax, and contribute to American prosperity.”
“We need to bring them out of the shadows and develop a path for citizenship that can include paying a penalty, learning English or any other requirements people believe are fair.”
The office of Gov. Nathan Deal – who signed Georgia’s immigration legislation into law – declined to comment.
Phil Kent, a member of Georgia’s Immigration Enforcement Review Board, cited the nation’s struggling economy and Georgia’s legislative crackdown for the decline in illegal immigrants coming to the state.
“The recession that began in 2008 and resultant loss of many jobs naturally has forced more illegal immigrants to self-deport back to their country of origin,” said Kent, the national spokesman for Americans for Immigration Control.
Joseph Rosen, a local immigration attorney who teaches immigration law at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, offered a different view.
“The reality of our immigration system,” he said, “is that we have an unknown number of individuals in the U.S. without documentation, the current immigration system is completely broken, and we need to fix it.”
The Center for Migration Studies and the authors of the report – University of Minnesota sociology professor John Warren and Robert Warren, a former federal demographer – plan to present the findings Friday in New York City.
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