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Ill bet its way more than 11 million.

Has to be at least 30 million by now. Bear Stearns did an estimate in 2003 of 20 million illegals so.......

20 million illegal immigrants in U.S.?
By Diana Hull
June 30, 2005
How much is 20 million? The population of the state of New York is approaching 20 million. Add up the combined populations of Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire and New Mexico, and the number is nearly 20 million too.
Twenty million is also the estimated number of illegal aliens in the United States, according to a research report issued earlier this year by investment banking and securities firm Bear Stearns, with recent years chalking up as many as 3 million illegal aliens entering the country annually.
Bear Stearns' research indicates that the illegal alien population is underreported by the U.S. Census by as much as half. The Census Bureau estimates 8.7 million illegals; the Urban Institute, 9.3 million; and a Center for Immigration Studies report suggests an illegal population of 10 million, while Time magazine estimates 15 million.
Bear Stearns' conclusion of dramatic underreporting was calculated by analyzing various data not included in other reports: border crossings, foreign remittances, housing permits, school enrollments, demand for language proficiency programs and service demand in gateway communities for illegals – all of which lead to findings contrary to Census Bureau numbers.
Robert Justich and Betty Ng, the Bear Stearns analysts who conducted the study, believe the impact of the sheer numbers of people is of major significance for the future of the country.
Among the many implications are increased costs related to public sector services and loss of government revenue. Skirting labor laws may yield short-term economic benefits, the report states, but funding for added demands on education, health care, law enforcement and retirement costs taxpayers approximately $30 billion per year. Moreover, the wages paid in cash to these workers translate to uncollected income taxes totaling as much as $35 billion annually.
The financial publication, Barron's, one of many outlets that repo
more>>> http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050630/news_lz1e30immigra.html

http://www.lacusveris.com/Underground/

The Underground Labor Force Is Rising To The Surface

Robert Justich and Betty Ng, CFA
January 3, 2005
The views expressed herein are those of the individual author and may differ from those expressed by other Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc. and Bear Stearns & Co. departments, including any of the Bear Stearns & Co. research departments.

Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc. 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179
Illegal immigrants constitute a large and growing force in the political, economic, and investment spheres in The United States. The size of this extra-legal segment of the population is significantly understated because the official U.S.Census does not capture the total number of illegal immigrants. In turn, the growth of the underground work force is increasingly concealing the economic impact of this below-market labor supply. Our research has identified significant evidence that the census estimates of undocumented immigrants may be capturing as little as half of the total undocumented population. This gross undercounting is a serious accounting issue, which could ultimately lead to government policy errors in the future.

Though we cannot conduct an independent census of the United States population, as investors, we need not accept the accuracy of the official census immigration statistics, which are widely recognized as incomplete. There are many ancillary sources of data that provide evidence that the rate of growth in the immigrant population is much greater than the Census Bureau statistics. School enrollments, foreign remittances, border crossings, and housing permits are some of the statistics that point to a far greater rate of change in the immigrant population than the census numbers. At the risk of appearing dogmatic or taking a leap of faith, we have applied the rate of growth from these other areas and have drawn several conclusions about the current immigration population:

The number of illegal immigrants in the United States may be as high as 20 million people, more than double the official 9 million people estimated by the Census Bureau.
The total number of legalized immigrants entering The United States since 1990 has averaged 962,000 per year. Several credible studies indicate that the number of illegal entries has recently crept up to 3 million per year, triple the authorized figure.
Undocumented immigrants are gaining a larger share of the job market, and hold approximately 12 to 15 million jobs in the United States (8% of the employed)
Four to six million jobs have shifted to the underground market, as small businesses take advantage of the vulnerability of illegal residents.
In addition to circumventing the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, many employers of illegal workers have taken to using unrecorded revenue receipts. Employer enforcement has succumbed to political pressure.
Cell phones, internet and low-cost travel have allowed immigrants easier illegal access to the United States and increased their ability to find employment and circumvent immigration laws.
We believe that immigration is becoming one of the most significant economic themes of this decade. The investment implications for 2005 and 2006 will hinge on the forthcoming government policy decisions in amnesty, employer enforcement, and monitoring systems, as well as the effective enforcement of the laws. Over the coming year, we intend to monitor and analyze the benefits and costs of assimilating a demographic group the size of New York State into the financial and legal mainstream. Though this challenge is not quite the magnitude of, say, German reunification, we believe most investors are underestimating the magnitude and significance of this theme.