A Wide Open Border

The number of illegal immigrants in the United States has not been dropping, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. The study concludes that despite a series of measures undertaken by the White House and at the state level, that total has remained constant for the second year running.

It has been estimated that of the 11.2 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S., some eight million comprise the illegal labor force. And while the country experienced an outflow of foreign workers in the wake of the 2009 recession, experts say the trend is unlikely to continue.

Mexicans now comprise the bulk of illegal immigrants in America, accounting for 58 percent overall, followed by South Americans (23 percent), Asians (11 percent), Africans (3 percent) and others. Together, they constitute roughly 4 percent of the U.S. population.

That the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has remained unchanged suggests that neither the deportation of some 400,000 people last year nor the draconian anti-immigration laws passed by states such as Arizona have had any significant impact.

According to Jeffrey Passel, one of the report’s co-authors, repressive measures are unlikely to ever achieve their desired results.