http://news.ft.com/cms/s/918e2a54-ae13-11da-8ffb-0000779e2340.html
Illegal immigration in US 'grows by 500,000 annually'
By Edward Alden in Washington
Published: March 7 2006 20:27 | Last updated: March 7 2006 20:27
The number of illegal immigrants in the US has continued to grow by nearly
half a million each year in spite of US efforts to increase security at the
country's borders, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
The study, by the Pew Hispanic Center, said that the population of
unauthorized migrants reached between 11.5m and 12m last year, accounting
for nearly a third of the foreign-born population in the US. That number is
up from roughly 8.4m in 2000.
The continued rise was driven primarily by the strong demand for low-skilled
work in the US. "What we're seeing is a labor migration that is tied to
employment opportunities," said Jeffrey Passel, the study's author.
The findings come as the Senate is set to take up on Wednesday legislation
aimed at stemming the flow of illegal immigrants coming to the US. The
Senate judiciary committee is launching a three-week effort to produce a
bill that the committee's chairman, Republican Arlen Specter, hopes will
create new legal channels for foreign workers in the US.
The proposal, outlined by committee staff on Monday, would allow those
illegally in the US to apply for renewable two-year work visas, and would
create a new guest worker programme to allow new workers to come to the US
legally.
That contrasts with legislation that passed the House of Representatives
late last year and would toughen enforcement against illegal aliens but
would not allow for new guest workers. Differences between the House bill
and the Senate version would have to be resolved later this year.
The Pew survey underscored the substantial presence of illegal workers in
the US labour market. It estimated about 4.9 per cent of the US labour
force, or 7.2m workers, was composed of unauthorised migrants.
Nearly a third of those work in service occupations, 19 per cent in
construction and 15 per cent in production, installation and repair jobs.
Illegal workers are especially prevalent in farming, where they make up
nearly a quarter of all workers, as well as cleaning, residential home
construction and food processing.
Despite beefing up border patrols and constructing fences along the southern
US border with Mexico, the US has so far been unable to reverse the flow of
illegal migrants there. The study found that the southern border remains the
gateway to the US, with Mexican migrants making up 56 per cent of the
unauthorised population, and another 22 per cent coming from the rest of
Latin America, particularly Central American countries such as Guatemala and
El Salvador.
The vast majority of those end up finding work in the US. Among adult males,
94 per cent of illegal immigrants participated in the US labour force,
compared with an 83 per cent participation rate for native-born men.
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