There are more than 14.4 million people living in the United States unlawfully, and they have given birth to nearly 5 million children while in the country, according to a study by an advocacy group seeking to end illegal immigration.
The 2020 estimate for total illegal immigrants by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) are higher than the more commonly quoted 11 million figure by media outlets and about 100,000 more than FAIR’s 2019 analysis.
The number of children born to illegal immigrants – often called "anchor babies" – is significant since it provides the foreign-born nationals a legal means – or anchor – to remain in the United States under the concept of birthright citizenship.
California has by far the most "anchor babies" with an estimated 1,030,000, followed by Texas (715,000) and Florida (381,000).
The net cost of the illegal aliens in the United States rose $2 billion to $133.7 billion, but the numbers showed a significant slowing from the previous few years due to a combination of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and Trump administration policies, FAIR said.
"As many as 60% of all new illegal aliens in any given year are those who have overstayed visas," the report said. "Thanks to a timely travel freeze implemented by the Trump administration to stop the spread of the virus, far fewer people entered the United States in recent months, so far fewer people had the opportunity to overstay their visas.
"Additionally, with fewer available jobs in the United States, especially in industries that attract illegal aliens, traffic at the southern border slowed significantly for several months during a time of year when apprehensions typically increase significantly."
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