New Pew Hispanic Report Finds Illegal Alien Population Held Steady

According to a newly released report from the Pew Hispanic Center, the illegal alien population of the United States in March 2010 was approximately 11.2 million – virtually unchanged from what it was a year earlier. The Pew estimate, based on the government’s March 2010 survey, ends its assessment of a downward trend that began in 2007.

The Pew data provide evidence that immigration enforcement was the single most important factor in the declining illegal alien population between 2007 and 2009, and that our borders remain out of control.

What hasn’t changed:

• The economy has not improved. Unemployment has remained high, with an estimated 26 million Americans either unemployed or involuntarily working part-time.
• Deportation levels have remained about the same.

What has changed:

• The Obama administration ended meaningful worksite enforcement against employing illegal aliens.
• The Obama administration has signaled that it has no interest in enforcing immigration laws, except against violent criminal illegal aliens.
• The Obama administration has repeatedly held out the promise illegal immigration would be rewarded with amnesty.

Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that, in spite of the Obama administration’s claims, the so-called “paperwork audits” are having little deterrent effect on illegal immigration. And, in spite of their repeated assertion that our borders are more secure than ever, new illegal aliens are sneaking into the country as fast as they are deporting people.