Thread: DHS Reports Illegal Immigrants Number About 11 Million in US

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... U&refer=us

Illegal Immigrants Number About 11 Million in U.S., Report Says
Aug. 19 (Bloomberg)

The government estimates 11 million illegal immigrants resided in the U.S. at the start of this year, about a half million more than a year earlier, with Mexico accounting for more than half the total.

The Department of Homeland Security, in a report posted on its Web site Aug. 17, based its estimate on an average annual growth rate of 408,000 illegal immigrants between 2000 and 2005. The 2000 Census showed the U.S. population totaled 281.4 million.

In January 2005, the population of illegal immigrants was 10.5 million, up from 8.5 million at the beginning of 200o, according to an annual report by the Office of Immigration Statistics released this month, with almost 3.1 million arriving in 2000 or later.

``Mexico was the leading source country for unauthorized immigration with nearly 6 million residents in the United States in 2005,'' according to the report. ``El Salvador, Guatemala, India and China were the next.''

Congress is at an impasse in crafting final immigration legislation. House Republicans are insisting that border security must come first, while the Senate favors a broader proposal that that includes a guest worker program and a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants. Negotiations on a final immigration measure are scheduled to begin in September.

Border Crackdown

President George W. Bush, who supports the Senate version, has sent National Guard troops to crack down on illegal border crossings. The program has reduced illegal immigrant apprehensions by 45 percent since its announcement in May, Customs and Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar told reporters July 25.

The deployment of 2,500 National Guard units to support positions along the U.S.-Mexican border has allowed 250 Border Patrol agents to be shifted to front-line duty, Aguilar said.

California, which borders Mexico, reported the largest population of illegal immigrants at 2.8 million, according to the Homeland Security report. Texas, which also borders Mexico, had 1.4 million. Florida reported 850,000, according to the report.

Immigrants -- both legal and illegal -- made up a larger portion of the population in last year than they have in 80 years, the Census Bureau said in a separate report Aug. 15. That survey, which didn't distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants, shows one in every eight residents was born in another country and one in five spoke another language at home.

Those figures are such a joke. Guesstamation at its best The true figures make wake up the rest of America.