Children of Unauthorized Immigrants Born in the U.S.

Nearly half of unauthorized-immigrant households (47%) consist of a couple with children, and most of those children (73%) were born in the United States. Nearly half of unauthorized immigrant households (47%) consist of a couple with children, a substantially larger share than for households of U.S.-born residents (21%) or legal immigrants (35%). This difference stems in large part from the relatively youthful composition of the unauthorized immigrant population.The number of children born as U.S. citizens to undocumented immigrant parents has expanded rapidly in recent years, to 4 million in 2008 from 2.7 million in 2003. By contrast, the number of children who are unauthorized immigrants (1.5 million in 2008) has been stable, and may have declined slightly since 2005. Read More