Analysis:

This story about a new study from the Pew Hispanic Center Study on the demographics of undocumented people coming to the US is basically just a reprint summary of the Pew press release that came out on March 21. The Press article was only 5 column inches long, so it appears that little effort was put into this story.

The article begins by saying “Higher fences, hordes of agents and hundreds of sensors have not kept illegal immigrants from crossing the US southern border.” This sort of statement could be quite misleading for 2 reasons. First, the article as a whole never asks the question why so many people would risk coming to the US as undocumented immigrants. According to a US-based organization, the Americas Program the bulk of undocumented immigrants come for economic reasons, they seek employment in order to keep their families out of poverty. The other reason this article is misleading is that there is no mention that thousands of undocumented immigrants are recruited as workers for the US, mostly in the agricultural and service sectors. The Coalition of Immoklee Workers has been documenting these abuses for years as has Human Rights Watch. What do you think it would have meant for readers to get an immigrant perspective or at least those defending immigrant rights? How would it change the meaning of such a story?

Story:

Higher fences, hordes of agents and hundreds of sensors have not kept illegal immigrants from crossing the US southern border, and they now number nearly 11 million, according to a Pew Hispanic Center Study.

The study, based on census updates and documents from the Department of Homeland Security, is the closest estimate yet of the number of illegal immigrants in the United States.

Demographer Jeffrey Passel found that more than half of illegal immigrants – about 57 percent, or 6 million – come from Mexico, and one-third, about 30 percent, arrived since 2000. The fastest-growing states for illegal immigrants are those where immigration is new, including North Carolina and Arizona, the study said, and a sizable chunk of the immigrants, about 1.7 million, is younger than 18.

Almost two-thirds of the immigrants live in just eight states, the study said.

“By the end of the 1990s, there was a substantial redirection of incoming migrants away from California and into these new places,” Passel said.

Passel said new destinations have little infrastructure to deal with the influx. He said that lack of preparation shows up dramatically in the health care system and schools.