Study: 420,000 Illegal Immigrants Live in Houston Area

Last Edited: Wednesday, 16 Jul 2008, 3:07 PM CDT
Created: Wednesday, 16 Jul 2008, 3:02 PM CDT

HOUSTON -- Do you know an undocumented resident? A new Greater Houston Partnership study suggests that one in every 12 to 13 residents in the Houston area is an illegal immigrant.

The study estimates the unauthorized population in the 10-county Houston metro area is approximately 420,000. About 117,600 are children, 124,000 are women and 178,000 are men.

Furthermore, the regional economy includes about 250,000 unauthorized workers, or one in 10 of all Houston-area employees, according to the study. The study suggests their contribution to the Houston Gross Regional Product is about $27.3 billion.

A residual method was used to calculate the numbers, according to the study. Officials subtracted the estimated legal immigrant population from the local foreign-born population, and assumed the remaining population are unauthorized immigrant residents.

The study did not include residents of Austin, Brazoria and San Jacinto counties, according to the study.
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