The amount of undocumented immigrants living in the United States illegally has leveled off in the last few years; however, those who decide to stay in the country on a permanent basis are likely to have much deeper ties than was the case ten years ago, a report released on Wednesday reveals.
The Pew Research Center study discovered that around 50% of the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States have been doing so for 13 years or more, and up to four million have children who were born in the country. The findings give the most detailed picture yet of America’s undocumented populace and have been released at a time when President Obama continues to contemplate making use of his executive powers to change the current deportation policy of his administration.
“These new estimates show that today’s unauthorized immigrants have lengthier ties to the US than those in the past,” says Pew Research Center’s director of Hispanic research, Mark Hugo Lopez. Researchers found that the amount of undocumented immigrants in the United States has leveled off following the economic recession in 2008.
Over 60% of the country’s undocumented population have been living in the US for at least ten years, which is an increase from around 35% back in 2000. Children born in the United States are automatically granted citizenship, even when their parents continue to be seen as illegal immigrants.
