Archive for the ‘Illegal Immigration’ Category

5 facts about illegal immigration in the U.S. | Pew …

The number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. has stabilized in recent years after decades of rapid growth. But the origin countries of unauthorized immigrants have shifted, with the number from Mexico declining since 2009 and the number from elsewhere rising, according tothe latestPew Research Center estimates.

Here are five facts about the unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S.

1There were 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2014, a total unchanged from 2009 and accounting for 3.5% of the nations population. The number of unauthorized immigrants peaked in 2007 at 12.2 million, when this group was 4% of the U.S. population.

2The U.S. civilian workforce included 8 million unauthorized immigrants in 2014, accounting for 5% of those who were working or were unemployed and looking for work, according to new Pew Research Center estimates. The number was unchanged from 2009 and down slightly from 8.2 million in 2007. The share of unauthorized immigrants in the civilian labor force was down slightly from 2009 (5.2%) and 2007 (5.4%). Compared with their 5% share of the civilian workforce overall, unauthorized immigrants are overrepresented in farming occupations (26%) and construction occupations (15%). In all industries and occupations, though, they are outnumbered by U.S.-born workers.

3Mexicans made up 52% of all unauthorized immigrants in 2014, though their numbers had been declining in recent years. There were 5.8 million Mexican unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. that year, down from 6.4 million in 2009, according to the latest Pew Research Center estimates. Meanwhile, the number of unauthorized immigrants from nations other than Mexico grew by 325,000 since 2009, to an estimated 5.3 million in 2014. Populations went up most for unauthorized immigrants from Asia and Central America, but the number also ticked up for those from sub-Saharan Africa. Increases in the number of unauthorized immigrants from other countries mostly offset the decline in the number from Mexico.

4Six states accounted for 59% of unauthorized immigrants in 2014: California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois.But some state populations had changed since 2009, despite the stable trend at the national level. From 2009 to 2014, the unauthorized immigrant population decreased in seven states: Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada and South Carolina. In all of them, the decline was due to a decrease in unauthorized immigrants from Mexico.In six states, the unauthorized immigrant population rose over the same time period: Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. In all of these but Louisiana, the increases were due to growth in unauthorized immigrant populations from nations other than Mexico. In Louisiana, it was an increase in Mexican unauthorized immigrants that drove the overall increase in the number of unauthorized immigrants.

5A rising share of unauthorized immigrants have lived in the U.S. for at least a decade. About two-thirds (66%) of adults in 2014 had been in the U.S. at least that long, compared with 41% in 2005. A declining share of unauthorized immigrants have lived in the U.S. for less than five years 14% of adults in 2014, compared with 31% in 2005. In 2014, unauthorized immigrant adults had lived in the U.S. for a median of 13.6 years, meaning that half had been in the country at least that long. Only 7% of Mexican unauthorized immigrants had been in the U.S. for less than five years in 2014, compared with 22% of those from all other countries.

To learn more: Explore unauthorized immigrant population trends for states, birth countries and regions, and seeaninteractive map and detailed table showingour latestestimates of the unauthorized immigrant population by state.

Note: This post was originally published on Nov. 18, 2014, and has been updated.

Topics: Hispanic/Latino Demographics, Immigration, Immigration Trends, Migration, Unauthorized Immigration

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5 facts about illegal immigration in the U.S. | Pew ...

Report: Illegal immigrants flock to big cities; 37% of Dallas immigrants illegal – Fort Worth Star Telegram


Fort Worth Star Telegram
Report: Illegal immigrants flock to big cities; 37% of Dallas immigrants illegal
Fort Worth Star Telegram
A report released Thursday estimates more than 2.5 million immigrants in the country illegally live in the metropolitan areas of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, which have pledged to fight President Donald Trump's plans to expand deportations.
Illegal immigration: Here's how Orlando comparesOrlando Business Journal
Study: 1 in 5 Illegal Aliens Live in NYC, LABreitbart News
Most Undocumented Immigrants Live In Areas That Trump Lost ...FiveThirtyEight
CBS News -Pew Research Center -NPR
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Report: Illegal immigrants flock to big cities; 37% of Dallas immigrants illegal - Fort Worth Star Telegram

L.A., Orange counties are home to 1 million immigrants who are in … – Los Angeles Times

The chatter of Spanish serves as the backdrop of Pico-Union, where the aroma of pastries from the panaderia merge with the synthetic smells of an auto repair garage. A predominantly Latino neighborhood, it has for decades been a first stop for immigrants both legal and illegal coming from various corners of Latin America.

Over the years, this community has faced challenges, including from politicians threatening crackdowns on illegal immigration. But to many in this densely populated area near MacArthur Park, the presidency of Donald Trump poses a threat of an altogether different scale. Trump has vowed mass deportations of those here illegally, which if carried out, could fundamentally alter the rhythms of life in Pico-Union and numerous other immigrant enclaves around Southern California and beyond.

The potential threat of emptied homes and shuttered businesses has residents envisioning the worst.

Una desolacin. Imagnate no ms, worried Graciela Sandoval, 79, who has lived in Pico-Union for five decades. A desolation. Just imagine it.

Itll be a ghost town here, added Manuel Blanco, 42, a lifelong Pico-Union resident who runs an auto repair shop in the area.Its not even going to be worth being in business.

An analysis released Thursday by the Pew Research Center underscores just how much immigrants here illegally have been embedded into the culture and economy of Los Angeles. Woven, often seamlessly, into dozens of cities infrastructures, they have become a workforce and community that makes up much of the fabric of Southern California.

Nearly 10% of the nations 11.1 million immigrants who are in the country illegally reside in Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to the research center. The region is home to 1 million such immigrants, second only to the greater New York area, which has 1.2 million. Third on the list was Houston with 575,000. The city of Los Angeles alone has an estimated 375,000.

Up to 8 million people in the country illegally could be considered priorities for deportation, according to calculations by The Times based on interviews with experts who studied internal documents related to Trumps directive. Trump has said that his order allows immigration officials to detain nearly anyone who has crossed the border illegally.

The Pew analysis, using augmented 2014 data collected by the American Community Survey, which is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, focused on the 20 major metropolitan areas with the highest numbers of immigrants here illegally. It showed that the population tends to live among legal immigrants and is highly concentrated.

In 2014, 61% of immigrants here illegally lived in those20 metropolitan areas, whereas only 36% of the total U.S. population lived in the same regions. All butone of the areas remained in the top 20 over the previous decade.

Five of those including Riverside, San Francisco, San Diego and San Jose were in California, a state at the forefront of the sanctuary movement, where leaders have insisted cities will continue to offer refuge to immigrants in the face of Trumps threat to cut their funds.

Although Los Angeles has not explicitly declared itself a sanctuary city, it has taken measures to protect those here illegally. Early this month, City Council members pushed forward a plan to draft a law that would decriminalize street vending. Many, if not most, who peddle items like bacon-wrapped hot dogs, fruit and ice cream are in the country illegally, and city leaders hope to keep them from being charged for selling goods or food on the sidewalk which would make them more vulnerable to deportation.

If the unauthorized population were to leave areas where they contribute to the local economy, cities could find themselves in trouble.

They would face not just a loss of population or loss of labor but also loss of buying power, said Louis DeSipio, a professor of political science at UC Irvine who specializes in immigration from Latin America.

Immigrants who are here illegally often contribute to the economy even in neighborhoods where they dont live, as service workers in restaurants or in the homes of the more well-heeled.

In Santa Ana, businesses catering to immigrants kept the downtown financially viable after white residents left decades earlier. The county seat of Orange County, Santa Ana boasts a downtown with gourmet restaurants and hipster shops, but its vibrancy is fueled by the Mexican immigrant community a good portion of which lacks legal status.

On Sundays, vehicles cruise 4th Street blaring Mexican ranchera music while families amble about bridal and hair salons, snack carts, jewelry shops and check-cashing stores that wire money to Latin America.

Claudia Arellanes, secretary of the Santa Ana Business Council and owner of a furniture store, said the area is reliant on its immigrant clientele.

Many people dont understand this, she said. It would be devastating. The downtown area would fail.

Businesses that dont specifically cater to new immigrants, such as mainstream malls, movie theaters and restaurants, also reap the benefits from a large unauthorized population that quickly acculturates to its surroundings, DeSipio said.

In Maywood, a 1.2-square-mile municipality that declared itself a sanctuary city more than a decade ago, the effects of Trumps directive have residents envisioning a collapsed community. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a population of 28,000, but city officials say that number doubles whenimmigrants in the country illegally are included.

Residents can point out neighbor after neighbor who dont have documents. Most have relatives in the same situation. Friends, too.

You would have empty homes and empty apartments,Mayor Pro TemEduardo De La Riva said of potentialmass deportations. People would be afraid to come outside.

To read this article in Spanish, click here.

brittny.mejia@latimes.com

cindy.carcamo@latimes.com

corina.knoll@latimes.com

Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report.

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L.A., Orange counties are home to 1 million immigrants who are in ... - Los Angeles Times

Groups want Trump to close loophole allowing illegal immigrants to … – Fox News

Illegal immigrants need only one number to access billions of dollars in free taxpayer cash.

The Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) unlocks an exclusive gateway for non-citizens to receive monies meant for working, low-income Americans. The nine-digit code was created by bureaucrats in 1996 for foreigners who had to deal with the IRS. It allows people without a Social Security number, including those in the country illegally, to file taxes.

Its just a farce to say it was created to collect taxes, Robert Rector, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News. Its nothing but a welfare program designed for illegal immigrants. ITINS are for tourists or illegals. No ITIN filer is eligible to work in the United States.

The problem with ITIN, critics say, is gives non-citizens access to federal cash that they should not be entitled to receive. Once illegal immigrants file ITIN tax returns, they can apply for a Child Tax Credit which entitles them to $1,000 per child. Unlike the Earned Income Tax Credit, which requires a Social Security Number to qualify, the Child Tax Credit is a cash program that does not.

Critics say that makes it ripe for abuse.

Numerous investigations by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration have chronicled not only improper Child Tax Credit fraud and error payments ranging from $5.9 billion to $7.1 billion, but schemes such as nearly 24,000 ITIN payments going to the same address. The audit reports also found IRS management was not concerned with addressing questionable applications but interested only in the volume of applications that can be processed, regardless of whether they are fraudulent.

Another audit report examining ITIN usage found Child Tax Credit claims more than quadrupled in five years, from $924 million in 2005 to $4.2 billion in 2010.

An agency spokesman said the IRS recently paid $5.7 billion to ITIN for those claiming child tax credit and in 2015 it paid $3.4 billion.

A Social Security number is required to qualify for any federal public benefit. Green card holders, refugees and those granted asylum receive Social Security Numbers. But workers without a Social Security Number can still file taxes and apply for certain tax credits with an ITIN number.

If you dont have a Social Security number, you shouldnt be getting a tax payment, David North of the Center for Immigration Studies told Fox News. It keeps happening and nobody pays attention.

Some are calling for President Trump to close the loophole and require people to obtain a Social Security number in order to receive a Child Tax Credit. North says no such course correction was included in an immigration-related draft order leaked to The Washington Post late January.

The order overlooks one of the largest sources of payments to non-citizens, North said. The federal government should not be subsidizing people who are in this country illegally.

North said the program has little oversight and abuse is not taken seriously.

The Treasury Department is not careful who gets a number, North said. Documents can be obtained through the mail, proving foreign status via a passport or combination of such documents as a VISA, foreign voter ID or school and medical records, without in-person interviews.

IRS IMPROPERLY PAID $15.6 BILLION THROUGH EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT PROGRAM

While congressional attempts to adjust the practice have sputtered, Indiana Congressman Luke Messer is resurrecting an effort to address the issue.

After eight years of the Obama administration, its clear the law isnt clear enough, Messer told Fox News. There is no policy reason why we should be supporting families who are here illegally.

Messers proposal, H.R. 363, would ensure only taxpayers with a valid Social Security number are able to claim the Child Tax Credit.

He says his legislation will save America billions of dollars and could be a method to pay for the wall.

Messer says he hopes to package the law into congressional tax reform efforts but would welcome an administrative fix.

Rector concurs, saying Trump needs to step in and take action.

An executive order could stop this immediately, he said. It violates welfare reform to make these payments to illegal immigrants.

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Groups want Trump to close loophole allowing illegal immigrants to ... - Fox News

Washington Post Pushes Illegal Alien Sob Stories – LifeZette

The Washington Post published an astonishing piece of pro-illegal immigration propaganda on Wednesday, detailing the struggles of illegal aliens living under President Donald Trump.

In Trumps capital, undocumented immigrants live and work in the shadow of the White House, the title of the piece states, before detailing the individual sob stories of five illegal aliens.

I am entitled to be here, unapologetically so.

While no one can deny that there are indeed some illegal aliens residing in the country who are here through no fault of their own, The Posts article is far from an attempt to examine the illegal immigration issue in a balanced and thoughtful way.

Rather, it is a blatant attempt to elicit emotional reactions from readers by depicting illegal aliens squarely as victims of Trumps nefarious aims and it may end up backfiring.

While The Post unequivocallybelieves its efforts will help the cause it so clearly wishes to champion, the article itself is a prime example of the kind of mainstream media chicanery which has left publications like The Post utterly bereft of credibility on major issues in the eyes of the American people.

The first illegal alien introduced to readers is Claudette Monroy, who now fears she may have to leave George Washington University and go back to Mexico. But Monroy isn't some poor victim of her parents' actions like the typical Dreamer paraded by the mainstream media.

"At 15, using a visitor's visa, she came to live with her older sister in Virginia," The Post reports. "'The plan was I was going to finish my freshman year, and I was going to go back to Mexico,' she said. 'Then life happened. I was doing well in school.'"

Monroy was not dragged across the border by criminal parents. Instead, she herself knowingly and willingly decided to commit a criminal act by overstaying her visa.

Later on in the article, the reader is introduced to an individual who is such an obvious representative of the radical far-left agenda one might be forgiven for thinking The Post invented her out of thin air.

Catalina Velasquez is, according to The Post, is the "first transgender undocumented immigrant to graduate from Georgetown University." Velasquez's parents were deported while she was attending Georgetown.

"I have not been able to hug my mother since then," Velasquez told The Post. "Every year is one more Christmas, one more Thanksgiving, one more birthday that I don't get to see them. Sometimes it's debilitating. Sometimes it gives me the strength to say that this shouldn't happen to another family."

The audacity of this comment is breathtaking. The only thing preventing Velasquez from hugging her mother is her refusal to return to her own country. No one is forcing her to stay in the United States.

Her longing for his family may indeed be debilitating, but unlike the countless number of Americans who have lost loved ones to criminal illegal aliens, Velasquezhas the opportunity to see her family again; she simply refuses to take it.

But Velasquez, like all open borders radicals, believes she has a God-given right to reside in a country that isn't hers. "I am entitled to be here, unapologetically so," said Velasquez. Velasquez is not entitled to be here in the slightest, and her claim would likely be taken as offensive to many of theimmigrants in America who came into the country legally.

Not content to merely pick two of the worst possible choices for garnering sympathy for illegal aliens, The Washington Post also decided to accuse the Justice Department of widespread lawlessness, asserting that DOJ officials are actively and willingly violating federal immigration law on a mass scale.

"There are 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. They are taxi drivers who find politicians in their back seats. They are child-care workers who get calls from Justice Department employees who are running late," the article asserts without providing any proof whatsoever.

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Washington Post Pushes Illegal Alien Sob Stories - LifeZette