Over 4 million unauthorized immigrants live in the West. If the Obama administration and Congress succeed in passing immigration reform, many could be eligible for deportation relief. Nationwide, 46 percent of unauthorized immigrants qualify for deferred action programs under federal guidelines. But in many Western states, that number is higher: In Utah, it’s 54 percent; in Idaho, 64. Across the 11 Western states, over 2 million people could qualify. A high proportion of immigrants in the region come from Mexico (in Colorado, 81 percent), says Randy Capps, an immigration expert at the Migration Policy Institute. These families are long established and settled, increasing the odds that they’ll be eligible. But as the chart below shows, the West’s unauthorized immigrant populations are also widely diverse, in both countries of origin and in occupations. Increasingly, they have families, jobs and, now, roots in the region.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Deportation relief.
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