Nearly 7 in 10 Mexican Migrants Enters U.S. Illegally, Says Mexico

The Mexican government reported the results of recent studies on Tuesday showing that 68 percent of Mexicans who migrate or try to migrate to the United States do so without documents and 55 percent of them hire immigrant smugglers.

The report, timed to coincide with the U.N. International Migrants Day, also noted that the Mexican-born population living in the United States increased from about 800,000 in 1970 to more than 11 million in 2006.

The majority of Mexicans now living in the United States—6.2 million—are undocumented, according to the report, which was based on surveys of migrants and information from the government’s National Population Council.

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