The report states the undocumented population has declined to about a half million residents. But the report also revealed that illegal immigrants are not confined to pockets or particular areas, most every Bay Area community had them. In total, they represent eight percent of the region’s total population.
The decline can be attributed to a migration from the cities to rural areas, as people seek more jobs. Also playing a role, although a very minute role, was participating in the secure communities program, which resulted in as little as 4,300 deportations.
From the Contra Costa Times:
An estimated half-million illegal immigrants live in the Bay Area, according to a study that is one of the first to try to measure the number of local residents living in the U.S. illegally.
The report by the Public Policy Institute of California used tax returns, previous national estimates and mathematical models to determine that 563,000 illegal immigrants live in the Bay Area, about 8 percent of the region’s total population.
Santa Clara County leads the Bay Area with 180,000 illegal immigrants, followed by Alameda County with 124,000 and Contra Costa County with 79,000, the study found.
Read the full article here.