Geographic Origins of Illegal Immigrants
Illegal immigrants are all foreign-born non-citizens who are not legal residents. Most of them either entered the United States without inspection or were admitted temporarily and stayed past the date they were required to leave. It is very hard to study the undocumented population, but estimates indicate that about one-third of the foreign-born population now living in the US is undocumented. The Center for Immigration Studies reported in 2012 that about 50% of 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States arrived legally with temporary, non-immigrant visas and then overstay per David Seminara, CIS. Of all unauthorized immigrants living in the United States in 2009, 63 percent entered before 2000, and 62 percent were from Mexico.
See also Illegal immigration to the United States About three-quarters (75%) of the nation's unauthorized immigrants are Latino. The majority of illegal immigrants (59%) are from Mexico. Significant regional sources of unauthorized immigrants include Asia (11%), Central America (11%), South America (7%), the Caribbean (4%) and the Middle East (less than 2%). Illegal immigrants constitute 4% of the nation's population. Approximately two-thirds have been in the U.S. for 10 years or fewer.
Read more about this topic: Economic Impact Of Illegal Immigrants In The United States
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“The admission of Oriental immigrants who cannot be amalgamated with our people has been made the subject either of prohibitory clauses in our treaties and statutes or of strict administrative regulations secured by diplomatic negotiations. I sincerely hope that we may continue to minimize the evils likely to arise from such immigration without unnecessary friction and by mutual concessions between self-respecting governments.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)