About Illinois
One million new residents have settled in Illinois over the last ten years. More than half of these new residents were immigrants. Illinois, the fifth most populated state in the U.S., increased by almost one million people between 1990 and 2000. This increase was the ninth largest numerical increase in the country bringing Illinois’s population to 3.4 million people. Illinois’s foreign-born population is the fifth largest in the country at approximately 1.5 million. During the 1990s Illinois gained an additional 580,000 immigrants. The increase in the foreign-born population during the 1990s accounted for 58 percent of the state’s overall population increase during the decade. Foreign-born residents now account for 12 percent of the state's total population. Reportedly, immigration-driven population growth is taking its toll on the state as resources continue to be drained. About 2.5 million people in Illinois are immigrants or the children of immigrants. The Census Bureau projects that Illinois’s population will increase by 12 percent between 2000 and 2025 to 13.4 million inhabitants.

Illegal Immigration to Illinois
432,000 illegal aliens resided in Illinois as of 2000 according to official figures. The Urban Institute estimated that public services for illegal immigrants cost the state a total of $136 million in 1994: $112 million for public education, $17.4 million for Medicaid, and $6.2 million for incarceration. During the same year illegal immigrants in Illinois paid only two-thirds that amount in federal, state and local taxes. Many feel the large population of illegal aliens is straining the state’s health care systems as many undocumented immigrants lack health insurance and rely on local emergency rooms and public health clinics for routine care.

Implemented in 1989, the Chicago police and public service authorities operate under a “don’t ask, don’t tell” order with regard to illegal aliens. However, other areas have been frustrated by their inability to work with the USCIS. In 2002, the INS (now USCIS) angered Greenfield Mayor Don Chapman when it declined to take custody of two illegal aliens pulled over in a traffic stop. A USCIS spokesperson said that the agency had to be focused on other priorities. Two years earlier USCIS agents told the Carrollton Police Chief Mike Kiger to release illegal immigrants arrested by his department, citing that they would be unable to take the individuals into custody due to a lack of manpower.

In 1999, Illinois authorities requested compensation of $36.4 million from the federal government for the incarceration of illegal aliens in state and local jails and prisons. This request was under the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). However, the state received only $14 million in compensation, leaving $22.4 million in uncompensated costs to be carried by Illinois taxpayers.

Statistical Numbers on Immigration to Illinois:

• Illinois has granted admission into the state to over 413,000 immigrants from 1996 to 2005.
• The three largest immigration groups in Illinois are comprised of people from Mexico, India and Poland.
• Illinois has received nearly 25,250 refugees from 1996 to 2004 for permanent resettlement. This is an average of 2,806 refugees per year.