Illegal Immigrants
THE PROBLEM
- Between 8 million and 9 million illegal immigrants live in the United States.
- An estimated 2.5 million to 3.5 million have overstayed their visas.
- 80,000 are convicted criminals.
- 400,000 have absconded after receiving a final order of deportation.
- More than 1.5 million are deported each year; most are caught at the border or a port of entry.
- In 2000, nearly 14,000 immigration offenders were in federal prisons, up from 1,600 in 1985.
- Nearly 16,000 people were prosecuted for immigration offenses in 2000, up from 6,600 in 1996.
- 2,000 federal immigration agents in the interior of the country
- 600,000 state and local police officers.
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