Laws: April, 2003 - Number #3

The INS estimated there were seven million unauthorized foreigners in the US in January 2000, twice the 3.5 million estimate for 1990. Some 13.5 million foreigners are estimated to have arrived in the 1990s, and eight million of these 1990s arrivals were living in the US legally in 2000, suggesting 5.5 million unauthorized residents who arrived in the 1990s. An additional 1.5 million unauthorized foreigners are estimated to have arrived in the US before 1990 and were living in the US in 2000, for a total seven million.

About 4.8 million or 70 percent of the unauthorized were Mexicans, up from two million, 58 percent, in 1990. More than 100,000 unauthorized foreigners from El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Honduras, China and Ecuador, were living in the US in 2000. California had the most unauthorized foreigners, 2.2 million or a third of the total, so that almost seven percent of California residents were unauthorized.

The INS said that a 2001 Census Bureau estimate of 8.7 million illegal immigrants included some foreigners who had permission to live or work in the US. The census put the number of unauthorized Mexicans at 3.9 million; the INS at 4.8 million. However, the census estimated 1.1 million unauthorized Europeans, while the INS estimated far fewer.

Foreign-Born. There were 32.5 million foreign-born residents of the US in 2001, according to the March 2002 CPS, up 2.5 million from 2000; this made the foreign-born 11.5 percent of the 282.1 million US residents. About 17 million of the foreign-born were from Latin America, and half arrived after 1990. About 26 percent of the foreign-born adults had a BA or more, the same rate as US-born residents, while 20 percent of the foreign-born had less than a ninth-grade education, compared to five percent of US-born adults.

Of the foreign-born from Latin America, 70 percent were from Mexico and Central America; 18 percent were from the Caribbean; and 12 percent were from South America.

Hispanics are the largest US minority group. In July 2001, the US had 285 million residents, including 37 million Hispanics and 36 million Blacks, plus 196 million non-Hispanic whites; 11 million Asian-Americans; and 3.5 million American Indians, Alaska Natives, or Native Hawaiians. Hispanics may be of any race.

Over half of Latinos are in Texas, California and New York, and a quarter of Hispanics are non-US citizens. Mexican-born US residents are scattered across the country. In 1988, 75 percent of Mexicans in the United States were in 33 counties; by 2000, 75 percent were in 114 counties in 26 states.

Latinos are 30 percent of California's population, but at the end of 2001, 51 percent of the babies born in the state were Latino; whites 31 percent; Asians 11 percent; and Blacks six percent. Based on birthrate trends, Latinos will be the majority of children entering California kindergartens in the fall of 2006; the majority entering high school in 2014; the majority of workers entering the labor force in 2017; and the majority turning 18 and eligible to vote by 2019. In 1980, Hispanics accounted for just 29 percent of California births.

California had 35.3 million residents in July 2002, up 603,000 from 2001 levels, reflecting 528,000 births, 233,000 deaths, and 308,000 immigrants. (www.dof.ca.gov) The labor force expands by 250,000 a year, the number of households to be housed by 200,000 a year, and the number of K-12 pupils by about 50,000 a year. California is expected to have 40 million residents in 2010, and 50 million between 2025 and 2030.