Where The Undocumented Immigrants Live

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2017/02/undocumented-immigrants-are-...trated-in-few-american-metros/516135/?utm_source=nl_links5_020917

Does she look illegal to you?
REUTERS/David NcNew
citylab.com

Hello Everyone:

After a brief local election and WiFi connection interlude, yours truly is finally sitting down to continue on the subject of immigration.  Before Blogger gets started on today's subject, where do undocumented immigrants live, a few words on Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson's justly maligned comment yesterday about African slaves being immigrants.  The good doctor may be a brilliant and accomplished neurosurgeon but that does not entitle him to his own facts.  Blogger's late paternal great grandparents and grandparents came to the United States from Eastern Europe, by choice, and in steerage.  African slaves were brought to the United States, in chains, in a cargo hold, by force.  This is going to be a mighty long four years.  Alright, that said, shall we begin?

Metropolitans with the largest population of undocumented immigrants
Pew Research Center
kut.org

 
The Pew Research Center estimates that there 11.1 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States (http://www.pewresearch.org; date accessed Mar. 7, 2017).  Of that 11.1 million, 61 percent (6.8 million) are concentrated in only 20 metropolitan areas, according to a new Pew analysis, 5 facts about illegal immigration in the U.S. (Ibid).  Natalie Delgadillo, in her CityLab article "Where Do Undocumented Immigrants Live?" writes, "...a very high concentration considering only 36 percent of the total U.S. population lives in these areas."

Further, the report goes to say that the number of undocumented immigrants accounted for 3.5 percent of the total population in 2014 and, an estimated 26 percent of the total number of foreign-born residents.  (Ibid)

"Top 20 areas by estimated unauthorized immigrant population, 2014"
Pew Research Center
news united.online

Undocumented immigrants tend to live among lawful immigrants.  Ms. Delagadillo reports, "Sixty-five percent of naturalized citizens and authorized noncitizen immigrants live the same 20 metros."  New York and Los Angeles occupy the number one and two positions, respectively, of the list of top 20 metropolitan areas where undocumented immigrants live (see graphic on the left-hand side).  The New York-Newark-Jersey City area is home to 1.2 million undocumented immigrants and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area has an undocumented immigrant population of 1million.  Other metropolitan areas do not come anywhere close to these numbers.  The Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas area is a distant third with a population of 575,000 undocumented immigrants.  Five of the top 20 metropolitan areas are in Blogger's home state California: Los Angeles, Riverside-San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Diego, and San Jose.

Country of origin for undocumented immigrants
usamorningpost.com

The Pew Research Center report makes use of information from the 2014 U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the most recent data available.  Ms. Delgadillo adds, "But the analysis finds that the geographic breakdown has remained consistent, with 19 of the top 20 metros for undocumented immigrants remaining on the list for the past decade."

Geography could be a significant factor over the next long four years as the Trump administration prepares to deport potentially millions of undocumented immigrants.  Several of the cities on the Pew list are "sanctuary cities," meaning that they will curtail their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement in detaining and deporting immigrants.  The two draconian executive orders, signed in January, increasing immigration enforcement, building The Wall, and punishing "sanctuary cities," President Donald Trump promised to penalize these municipals by cutting off federal grants.  One of the orders, Executive Order: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, states:

Undocumented immigrant population by state
slate.com

...Ensure that jurisdictions that fail to comply with applicable Federal law do not receive Federal fund, except as mandated by law...

...the Attorney General and the Secretary [Department of Homeland Security], in their discretion and to the extent consistent with law, shall ensure that jurisdictions that willfully refuse to comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373 (sanctuary jurisdictions) are not eligible to to receive Federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes by the Attorney Genera; or the Secretary...  (http://www.whitehouse.gov; date accessed mar. 7, 2017)

Theoretically, cutting off municipalities that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities comes off as tough talk, in practice it could end up a legal and logistical nightmare for the Trump administration because the order is typical vague on detail.  However, cutting off sanctuary jurisdictions from Federal grants is certainly within the realm of possibility.  Given the potential breadth of financial loss, some of the cities could bow to the pressure.  Natalie Delgadillo writes, "In fact, Miami, number five on this list already has."

President Donald Trump's executive orders also calls for the immediate construction of his highly controversial wall and increasing boarder security, adding 5,000 border patrol agents, and tripling the current number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.  This gives a total of almost 16,000 ICE agents, who could end up making their presence well known in metropolitan areas where immigrants live.