US Sees Notable Rise in Illegal Filipino Immigrants

Washington: The number of unauthorized immigrants in the US has remained almost same between 2009 and 2014 even as the number of Asians in the country staying illegally jumped by about 130,000 during the five-year period to 1.4 million, with notable increases of people from the Philippines and India.

Mexicans still account for 52 percent of people in the US illegally in 2014, down from 56 percent in 2009, but still the largest nationality by far.

Pew said the US unauthorized immigrant population of 11.1 million in 2014 has stabilized since the end of the Great Recession with the number from Mexico declined but the total from other regions of the world increased.

Overall, the top five birth countries of unauthorized immigrants are Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, India and Honduras.

Mexicans remain the majority of the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population, but their estimated number 5.8 million in 2014 has declined by about half a million people since 2009.

Meanwhile, the number of unauthorized immigrants from all other nations mainly those from Asia and Central America grew by 325,000 since 2009, to 5.3 million in 2014, it said.

“The decline in unauthorized immigrants from some parts of the world, mainly Mexico, was roughly balanced by an increase in unauthorized immigrants from other parts of the world, so the total US unauthorized immigrant population had no statistically significant change from 2009 to 2014,” Pew said.

In 2014, 59 percent of unauthorized immigrants lived in just six states California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. More than a third (36 percent) lived in California and Texas combined.

Mexico is the leading birth country of unauthorized immigrants in at least 38 of the 50 states and District of Columbia. El Salvador is the leading birth country in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

The Philippines is the top birth country in Alaska and Hawaii. Other top birth countries include Brazil in Massachusetts, India in New Hampshire and Guatemala in Rhode Island.

In 2014, as many as 59 percent of unauthorized immigrants lived in just six states California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois.

More than a third (36 percent) lived in California and Texas combined. The states with the highest shares of unauthorized immigrants in their overall populations in 2014 were Nevada (seven percent) and California (six percent), the report said.

(Source: FilipinoTimes.ae)