The Characteristics of Unauthorized Immigrants in California, Los Angeles County, and the United States

The Characteristics of Unauthorized Immigrants in California, Los Angeles County, and the United States Karina Fortuny Randy Capps Jeffrey S. Passel* The Urban Institute Washington, DC March 2007 Support for this report was provided by the Rosenberg Foundation in San Francisco, California * Jeff Passel has been employed by the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C., since January 2005. He prepared initial versions of the data underlying this report while he was employed by the Urban Institute. Karina Fortuny and Randy Capps wrote the report in consultation with Passel. Copyright © 2007. The Urban Institute. All rights reserved. Except for short quotes, no part of this report may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the Urban Institute. The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and educational organization that examines the social, economic, and governance problems facing the nation. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, the Pew Hispanic Center, their trustees, or their funders. This report was prepared by the Urban Institute with the support of the Rosenberg Foundation in San Francisco. The authors would like to thank Wendy Zimmermann and Fiona Blackshaw at the Urban Institute for their careful review and copyediting of this manuscript. Unauthorized Immigrants in — iii — California, Los Angeles County, and the United States Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... vi Introduction and Background ......................................................................................................... 1 Study Methods ................................................................................................................................ 2 Unauthorized Immigrant Trends and Origins: States and Metropolitan Areas .............................. 4 States ............................................................................................................................... 4 Metropolitan Areas ......................................................................................................... 6 Unauthorized Families and Labor Force......................................................................... 7 Unauthorized Immigrant Characteristics for Los Angeles, California, and the Nation.................. 8 Demographic Characteristics .......................................................................................... 8 Educational Attainment and Employment .................................................................... 14 Income and Poverty ...................................................................................................... 22 Health Insurance Coverage of Adults and Children ..................................................... 25 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 28 References..................................................................................................................................... 31 Tables ............................................................................................................................................ 33 Appendix: Methodology and Terminology .................................................................................. 60 Unauthorized Immigrants in — iv — California, Los Angeles County, and the United States Figures Figure 1: Definitions of Citizenship and Legal Status Categories.................................................. 3 Figure 2: Top 10 U.S. Metropolitan Areas with Highest Unauthorized Immigrant Populations ... 6 Figure 3: Mexican Shares of Total Foreign-Born and Unauthorized Populations: United States, California, and Los Angeles County............................................................................................... 9 Figure 4: Share of Children in Immigrant Families and Unauthorized Families: United States, California, and Los Angeles County.............................................................................................12 Figure 5: Share of Unauthorized Families without Children and Composed of “Solo” Men: United States, California, and Los Angeles County ..................................................................... 13 Figure 6: Labor Force Participation Rates for Men Age 18 to 64: United States, California, and Los Angeles County...................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 7: Labor Force Participation Rates for Women Age 18 to 64: United States, California, and Los Angeles County ....