WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- More than half of the 16 million Hispanic children in the United States have at least one immigrant parent, a report released Thursday said.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimated less than 10 percent of Hispanic children are living in the United States illegally. But many of them are the children of parents who are in the country illegally.
Researchers said there has been a major shift since 1980, when a majority of Hispanic children were born in the United States to U.S.-born parents. In the past 30 years, there has been a major wave of immigration from Mexico and Central America.
The children of immigrant parents are more likely to be poor than those whose parents were born in the United States, the report said.
As they grow up, their numbers will peak soon, researchers said. Between now and 2025, the number of Hispanic children born to U.S.-born parents will rise.
