Mexicans named the largest Hispanic-origin population in U.S.

May 01, 2013

Nine percent of the people born in Mexico live in the United States. This is one of the findings in a report released Wednesday from the Pew Hispanic Center.

Pew Research 65 percent of those of Mexican-origin living in the U.S. in 2011 were native and not foreign born. (Photo courtesy of Pew Research Hispanic Center)

The report is based on U.S. Census Bureau data. It shows that of all Hispanics in the U.S., those of Mexican-origin make up 64 percent of that population, and about half are undocumented. The report breaks down the numbers further and estimates that one-third are legal permanent residents and 16 percent are naturalized U.S. citizens.

The Pew Hispanic Research data shows that before 1980 most of the Mexican-origin population growth was due to births in the U.S. From 1980 until 2000, the population growth is attributed to immigration.

In the last 10 years, the Mexican-origin population growth is again credited to U.S. births. Data shows that compared to 1990, Mexican immigrants today are considerably older, better educated, have been in the U.S. longer and more than half are women.