The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - September 28, 2005

Washington --- More illegal immigrants are entering the United States than legal immigrants, a study released Tuesday found. The report, by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group, also found that the number of immigrants coming to the United States --- legal and illegal --- grew rapidly starting in the mid-1990s, hit a peak at the end of the decade and then declined after 2001.

The number of immigrants swelled to 1.5 million in 1999 and 2000, the study says. After 2001, their ranks dropped back to about 1.1 million, where it was in the early 1990s. By 2004, the annual influx of foreign-born people was about 1.2 million.

Immigrant destinations have changed from states with large foreign-born populations such as California, New York and New Jersey towards Georgia, Oregon, Colorado, North Carolina and Iowa.

Mexicans accounted for about one third of the overall inflow from 1999 to 2003. About 80 percent to 85 percent of immigrants from Mexico are illegal.