Did You Know?
Little Known Facts in the Immigration Debate



In 2006, the total unauthorized population in the U.S. was estimated at 11,550,000 by the Department of Homeland Security.


The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported more than 186,600 illegal aliens in 2006.


57% of the unauthorized population in 2006 was from Mexico; 12% from El Salvador, Guatemala, Brazil, and Honduras; 10% from India, Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philipines; while 21% were from all other countries.


As of 2006, California contained 24% of the total illegal alien population. Texas had 14%, Florida 8%, New York 5%, and Illinois 5%.


2005-2006 population studies indicated that unauthorized immigrants work in the following industries: service occupations (32%); construction and extractive jobs (19%); production, installation and repair (15%); sales and administrative (12%); management, business, and professional (10%); and farming (4%).


The IRS estimated that from 1996 to 2003 it received "almost $50 billion" in federal income taxes from people using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). They said that "many illegal aliens" as well as others ineligible to receive Social Security numbers contributed to this figure.


An Army Corps of Engineers' study estimated that constructing a Mexican border fence would cost over $1.2 million per mile, excluding land acquisition costs, and that the 25-year life cycle cost of the fence would range from $16.4 million to $70 million per mile.


40 tunnels and subterranean passages have been discovered under the U.S.-Mexico border from Sep. 11, 2001 to Mar. 16, 2006.


An estimated 3.1 million American citizen children have at least one illegal alien parent.


Being an alien with an expired visa or residency permit inside the US is a civil offense, while entering illegally or smuggling aliens across the borders could be classified as a misdemeanor, a felony, or even as a capital crime.


The first major U.S. immigration curtailment was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Immigration Act.


If you have any little known, straightforward, and interesting facts that you’d like to share, please contact us. Please include a link or reference to your source.

Last updated on: 4/13/2009 12:33 PM PST


http://immigration.procon.org/viewresou ... eID=000843