Educational Resource
MRS Issue Briefing Series, Issue 1: Why Don't They Come Here Legally? (2013)
USCCB Migration and Refugee Services and the Office of Migration Policy and Public Affairs
Issue Briefing Series, Issue #1: Why Don't They Come Here Legally?
In the fractious debate surrounding both legal and illegal immigration to the United States, politicians, the public, and pundits alike eventually cycle back to one fundamental question – why don’t they come here legally? Why don’t the estimated 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants presently in the United States stand in line with the rest of the immigrants seeking to enter lawfully? If our ancestors did it, why can’t they?
In the United States today, there are an estimated 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants. Sixty percent of these immigrants are from Mexico. Another 20 percent are from other Latin American countries. Eleven percent comes from South and East Asia. Combined, unauthorized workers comprise more than five percent of the U.S. workforce.
Many understandably ask why these millions of unauthorized immigrants did not seek to come to the United States lawfully. Some argue that if their ancestors could do it, so should the unauthorized immigrants in our country today.