By IANS,
Washington : An estimated 220,000 Indians have made the United States their home illegally with a whopping 81 percent increase in their number in last seven years, according to latest official figures.
The dramatic growth in the number of Indians has come about even as immigration from Mexico continues to dominate the unauthorised population growth, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s latest statistics on ‘illegal immigrants’.
The estimated population of Indians living illegally in the United States was 220,000 in 2007 compared to 120,000 in the year 2000, thus recording one of the highest percentage increases.
An estimated 11.8 million unauthorised immigrants were living in America in January 2007 compared to 8.5 million in 2000. The unauthorised population increased by 3.3 million between 2000 and 2007 while the annual average increase during this period was 470,000.
Nearly 4.2 million (35 percent) of the total 11.8 million unauthorised residents in 2007 had entered in 2000 or later. An estimated 7.0 million (59 percent) were from Mexico.
California remained the leading state of residence for the illegal population in 2007 with 2.8 million, followed by Texas with 1.7 million and then Florida with nearly one million.
California’s share of the national total declined from 30 percent in 2000 to 24 percent in 2007 as the greatest percentage increases of unauthorised resident population occurred in Georgia (120 percent), Arizona (62 percent) and Texas (57 percent).