WASHINGTON — The profile — young men sneaking across the U.S. border to find jobs and send money home to their families — is far from complete.
Young men are the largest group of illegal immigrants to the United States. But most bring their families and many have children born in this country, which makes the kids U.S. citizens.
"There's about 6.5 million adults who are in families, either couples or couples with children, and there's another 2 million children," said Jeffrey Passel, a senior research associate at the Pew Hispanic Center. "The vast majority of this population is families."
In the U.S., there are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. They tend to be younger than U.S. citizens, more likely to hold jobs but less likely to have high school diplomas.
Many families include relatives of differing immigration status. Nearly two-thirds of the children were born in the U.S., according to an analysis by the Washington-based research organization.
Senators now are debating legislation that would tighten border security while enabling illegal immigrants to become citizens.
One reason for the sudden broader interest: These immigrants now live in more cities and states than ever.
In 1990, almost half lived in California, the Pew analysis said. By 2004, California's share had dropped to about one-quarter, even though the state's illegal population had grown from 1.6 million to about 2.4 million.
They are moving to states like North Carolina, Iowa, Ohio and Georgia as they seek jobs and establish communities. North Carolina has nearly 16 times the number of illegal immigrants it had in 1990, the Pew analysis said. The state had 390,000 in 2004, the most recent state numbers available.
"I hear it everywhere I go," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "Are we going to run this work force off? . . . What are you going to do about broken borders?"
South Carolina saw its illegal immigrant population hit 55,000 in 2004 — a 1,000 percent increase in 14 years.
The Pew center estimates there are as many as 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, though researchers acknowledge that they are difficult to count. Other organizations have put the number at 11 million; all agree the total is rising quickly.
About one-quarter of them arrive in the U.S. legally and simply overstay their visas, Passel said.
"We have about 30 million people per year come here on temporary visas, either tourists or visitors for business," he said. "With 30 million folks coming here a year, a very small percent who stay adds up over the years."
Illegal workers make up about 5 percent of the U.S. labor force. More than nine in 10 males illegally here are in that labor force, compared with 83 percent of men born in the United States.
Illegal immigrants tend to be younger than American workers, which helps explain why they are more likely to hold jobs, researchers said.
Female illegal immigrants, however, were less likely to work than their American counterparts, perhaps because most have young children, the Pew analysis said.
Illegal immigrants are concentrated in construction, agriculture and cleaning jobs. They make up 36 percent of all insulation workers, 29 percent of agricultural workers and 29 percent of roofers.
The Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates restricting immigration, recently issued a report saying that immigrants compete for jobs with less-educated Americans, especially high school dropouts.
About half of adult illegal immigrants have not graduated high school, the Pew analysis found. About a third have less than a ninth-grade education.
About a quarter of illegal immigrants have at least some college, with 15 percent holding at least a bachelor's degree.