Study estimates illegal entrants at 10.5% of Arizona’s work force

Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services

Up to 10.5 percent of the state work force in 2006 — more than 300,000 people — came here illegally, double the national average, according to a new study.

The report by the Pew Hispanic Center also found 18 percent of the more than 2.9 million people in the labor force were not born in the United States. The balance are presumed to be legal residents.

Pew Hispanic released the special report after Arizona became the first state in the nation to enact laws penalizing businesses for knowingly or intentionally hiring undocumented workers.

The study, conducted using information from both the U.S. Census Bureau and Pew’s own analysts, was designed to provide the most up-to-date figures and compare Arizona with the rest of the nation.

According to the report, 29.1 percent of all Arizonans in 2006 were Hispanic, again double the national figure. Of those, more than half were not born in this country. And most of those are not citizens.