ILLEGAL MIGRATION NEWS
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[Source: wire stories. March 9] THE PEW HISPANIC CENTER ISSUED A NEW REPORT ON MARCH 6, WHICH ESTIMATES THAT THE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN THE U.S. HAS GROWN
TO MORE THAN 12 MILLION. Undocumented workers fill one out of every four agricultural jobs,
17 percent of all office- and house-cleaning positions, 14 percent of construction jobs,
and 12 percent of those who work in food preparation. The pace of illegal immigration is increasing.
Mexicans who make it to the U.S. illegally are staying longer,
perhaps because it is getting harder and more expensive to move back and forth across the border.
According to the author of the report, the security has done more to keep people from going back to Mexico
than it has to keep them from coming in. The report estimates that 850,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in the U.S. every year since 2000. Illegal immigrants make up about 5 percent of the U.S. work force.
About 7.2 million illegal immigrants are employed. Mexicans make up 56 percent of illegal immigrants.
An additional 22 percent come from other Latin American countries, mainly in Central America.
About 13 pecent are from Asia, while Europe and Canada combine for 6 percent.