NEW YORK — Over dinner with a consultant friend recently, our conversation drifted to U.S. immigration when she said, "I'm worried about our future."
We did not go any further on the subject, but the late-afternoon news flash had said the Obama administration would take up immigration reform next year, and when it comes to immigration reform, the matter has to do with "illegal aliens," who are mostly Hispanics.
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the number of "unauthorized" immigrants in the United States in 2008 was 11.9 million, of which 76 percent were Hispanics. Over the years, though, estimates have varied, the highest being the one put forth by Bear Stearns — yes, the highflying money-changer that touched off the current financial crisis — in its 2005 study: 20 million. At that level, the size of "undocumented" immigrants, to use another word for "illegal," comes close to that of the population of New York State.