Indian illegal immigrants in US: numbers jumped 125% since 2000

The San Jose Mercury News notes that the fastest growing group of illegal immigrants to US comes from India. A recent report [pdf] from the Department of Homeland Security shows that their numbers jumped 125% since 2000, up to 270,000 (though the Merc cites Pew Hispanic Center’s Jeffrey S. Passel putting the number closer to 400,000). By comparison the numbers from Mexico, the country from which most illegal immigrants originate, rose only 37%.

FASTEST GROWING SOURCE? IT’S INDIA

The Bay Area has a piece of the nation’s fastest growing group of illegal immigrants. But don’t assume you know who they are.

Turning stereotypes on their head, a recent federal analysis of unauthorized immigration says the most rapidly growing source of illegal immigration is India – the same country whose engineers and programmers help power Google and other Silicon Valley companies, whose doctors heal the Bay Area’s sick, and whose entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have become a force on both sides of the international date line.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that there are 270,000 unauthorized Indian natives in the United States – a 125 percent jump since 2000, the largest percentage increase of any nation with more than 100,000 illegal immigrants in the United States.