By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Roughly 8 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, early estimates from the 2000 census show. Their presence swells the country's foreign-born population to more than 31 million people.
More detailed figures are due from the Census Bureau (news - web sites) in the next month, and a final count of the foreign-born population will be released next year.
If the estimate of undocumented Americans holds up, it would be about 1 million more than an unofficial forecast by the Immigration and Naturalization Service early this year. Such a determination would highlight further the impact that immigration has had in reshaping the nation's demographic makeup, said University of Michigan demographer William Frey.
The 2000 census count of 35.3 million Hispanics nationwide was about 2.5 million higher than previously estimated. Hispanics now rival blacks as the country's largest minority group.
``This helps fit together the pieces of the census, the much higher level of immigration makes much more sense,'' said Urban Institute demographer Jeffrey Passel.
The Census Bureau does not ask about citizenship status on its forms and stresses that it keeps all answers confidential. The bureau uses INS data to help estimate undocumented Americans.
The 1990 head count found 19.8 million foreign-born residents. Several government agencies have placed the number of undocumented immigrants that year at about 3.5 million.
The latest estimates come at a time when Congress is scrutinizing the nation's immigration and visa systems after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
``These new estimates have enormous implications for the security of our nation,'' said Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors stricter immigration controls.
While most illegal immigrants by far are not terrorists, ``that hundreds of thousands of people are able to settle in the United States illegally each year indicates that terrorists who wish to do so face few obstacles,'' Camarota said.
INS Commissioner James Ziglar has said the issue is not necessarily about immigration itself, but about cracking down on nonimmigrant visitors ``who came here to do evil.''
``How to reduce the threat of terrorism and bring the undocumented population under control has come to the forefront'' of priorities, agency spokesman William Strassberger said Wednesday.
Among priorities stressed by INS and Congress are to identify and remove ``terrorist threats'' and to crack down on those who have overstayed time-limited visas.
The 2000 preliminary estimates come from a lengthy report the bureau produced over its decision against releasing statistically adjusted population data to distribute federal funds across the country.
The foreign born estimate is consistent with earlier surveys this year from the Census Bureau. Frey and Passel suggested the number of illegal immigrants could be even higher because of a census undercount.
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This one speaks for itself.....