New USC Report Finds Illegal Aliens Make Up Nearly 10 Percent of California's Workforce

Alien-nation on the left coast.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Immigrants illegally in California comprise nearly 10% of workforce":

Immigrants who are in California illegally make up nearly 10% of the state's workforce and contribute $130 billion annually to its gross domestic product, according to a report by researchers at USC released Wednesday.

The study, which was conducted in conjunction with the California Immigrant Policy Center, was based on Census data and other statistics, including data from the departments of Labor and Homeland Security. It looked at a variety of ways the estimated 2.6-million immigrants living in California without permission participate in state life.

Among the study's findings:

• Immigrants who are in California illegally make up 38% of the agriculture industry and 14% of the construction industry.

• Half of the immigrants in the state illegally have been here for at least 10 years.

• Roughly 58% do not have health insurance.

• Nearly three in four live in households that include U.S. citizens.

USC sociology professor Manuel Pastor, who worked on the report, said the data show how integrated immigrants are into California society.

"It's a population deeply embedded in the labor market, neighborhoods and social fabric of the state," said Pastor, who is a co-director of USC's Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration.

Advocates for more inclusive immigration policy say the economic contributions of immigrants are another reason they should be allowed to stay...

I'm guessing the study's authors --- Manuel Pastor and others --- are just slightly pro-amnesty. Just slightly, mind you.

More.