An unauthorized immigrant is anyone who is in the United States but doesn't have any form of legal immigration status and, therefore, no legal authorization to be here. In 2012, there were approximately 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Approximately half of them entered the country illegally (in most cases, by crossing the border from Mexico into the southwestern United States). The other half entered legally — on temporary visas — but didn't leave the country when the visas expired: they're known as visa overstays.
Roughly %85 of undocumented immigrants have been in the US for at least five years, and the majority have lived here for at least 10 years. The unauthorized immigration wave peaked from 1996 to 2006:
Experts cite a number of reasons for the growth in the unauthorized population since 1996. Many believe the legal immigration system just couldn't satisfy US companies' demand for labor. Some cite poor immigration enforcement, especially at the work place, on the other hand, others say that increased border security has made people less likely to leave. And some point to a 1996 law that made it more difficult for unauthorized immigrants to receive legal status while living in the United States.
Many unauthorized immigrants in the United States have children who are native-born US citizens. An estimated 4.5 millions US-born children have at least one unauthorized parent.
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