Homeland Security: Its 530,000 Illegal Immigrants Ranks Az 6th in U.S.

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[Arizona’s] illegal immigrant population reached 530,000 last year, a 62 percent increase from 330,000 in 2000, according to the report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The report estimates 11.8 million illegal and unauthorized immigrants lived in the United States in 2007, 3.3 million more than in early 2000.

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Arizona ranked sixth nationally in the number of illegal immigrants, who make up 5 percent of the country’s population.

California remained the leading state of residence for the illegal population with 2.8 million, followed by Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois.

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To estimate the number of illegal immigrants, the DHS Office of Immigration Statistics subtracted the number of legal resident immigrants from the total foreign-born population living in the U.S. on January 2007. The difference was considered unauthorized immigrants, the report said.

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