Pew Report: 50% of illegal Immigrants Have Been in US at Least 13 Yrs

by Tony Lee

Sep 4, 2014 6:52 AM PT

Half of the country's illegal immigrant adults have been in the United States for at least 13 years, according to a new Pew Research study. 

Using "data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and Current Population Survey," Pew estimated that there were 11.3 million illegal immigrants "living in the U.S. in March 2013," and that was "about the same as the 11.2 million in 2012 and unchanged since 2009." The survey did not account, though, for the flood of illegal immigrants that have been coming across the border since that time. There have been at least 63,000 illegal immigrant juveniles who have been detained at the border since October of last year. That number does not include adults. In addition, law enforcement officials have stated that only 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 illegal immigrants are actually detained, which means many more are sneaking into the U.S. undetected.

Pew determined that the "median length of time that" illegal immigrant adults have been in the United States was 13 years. In 2003, "the median for adults was less than eight years." In addition, 62% and 21% of illegal immigrant adults in 2012 have been in the country for more than a decade and more than two decades, respectively.

Previous Next