Undocumented migrants coming to stay (AZ)
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Undocumented migrants coming to stay
Study: State gains 200,000 in 5 years
Chris Hawley
Republic Mexico City Bureau
Mar. 22, 2005 12:00 AM
MEXICO CITY - Arizona has gained 200,000 undocumented immigrants in the past five years and the United States nearly 3 million, according to estimates released Monday by a Washington-based think tank.
During the same time, Arizona's population grew by approximately 613,000 people, according to the Census Bureau.
Migrants from Mexico are drawn to Arizona because of tougher security along the California border, a wealth of jobs in booming Phoenix and what is perceived as a better quality of life, the Pew Hispanic Center said.
Arizona now has the fifth-largest population of undocumented people, or about 500,000, of the estimated 11 million such immigrants in the United States, according to a study released Monday by the center.
The state's population is about 5.7 million, according to 2004 census estimates.
The state's undocumented immigrant population is up from about 300,000 in 2000 and about 90,000 in 1990, said Jeffrey Passel, author of the report. The state's share of the population of undocumented immigrants has doubled since 1990, to nearly 5 percent from 2.5 percent.
"Arizona is getting a huge share of new migration from Mexico," Passel said. "Clearly these people are staying in Arizona like they weren't before."
The migrants are being lured to Phoenix and other growing cities by jobs in construction, landscaping and light manufacturing, Passel said. Many of them are relocating from California, not just coming across the border, he said.
The new study compared government statistics about legal migrants to Census Bureau estimates of foreign-born residents from March 2004. Passel then used rates of growth to estimate the current numbers.
The study showed:
• There are about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States now. That's compared with 8.4 million in 2000 and 3.5 million in 1990, Passel said.
• Mexicans account for about 57 percent of undocumented immigrants, with an additional 24 percent coming from elsewhere in Latin America.
• About 80 percent to 85 percent of Mexican immigrants are undocumented. Many of those who entered illegally in the 1980s have become legal residents either by marriage or amnesty programs.
• About 1.7 million undocumented immigrants are younger than 18.
The study comes just days before a summit in which President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin are expected to discuss immigration, among other issues.
It also comes ahead of the Minuteman Project, a civilian patrol that activists are organizing for April 1-30 on the Arizona-Mexico border.
Other immigration experts said the Pew report chimes with other studies showing immigrants, both legal and undocumented, are spreading out to new areas.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform has estimated that undocumented immigrants cost Arizona $1.3 billion annually in government services and lost tax revenue. But Passel and other experts cautioned that those numbers are hard to calculate.
"I've never seen a reliable (cost) number for Arizona," said Brian Gatton, a history professor and immigration researcher at Arizona State University.
Passel said more walls and increased security along the California border had driven border-crossers to Arizona.
But he also said many undocumented immigrants are people who were living in California and came to the Arizona because jobs are easier to get and the quality of life is seen as better.
Immigrant Jose Antonio Acegueda said that's what drew him to the state. He crossed illegally into California 16 years ago and became a legal resident under an amnesty program. In 1995, Acegueda's brother persuaded him to move to Phoenix.
"There were more opportunities to live a normal life here," Acegueda said. "It's quieter here, no gangs. Not so much violence compared with LA. It was tough for me there. All those elements put together, I decided to come here."
