A study released Thursday by the Migration Policy Institute shed new light on the national origin, employment and education status of the roughly 11.4 million immigrants living in the country illegally.

It also examined who may be eligible for relief under President Obama’s expanded deferred action program, which offers a work permit and a temporary stay of deportation to some immigrants with close ties to the U.S.

Here are five interesting takeaways from the study:

-The population of those eligible for relief is highly concentrated, with 76% of the potential 5.2 million recipients living in just 10 states, including California, Texas and New York.


-A quarter of the roughly 11.4 million immigrants in the country illegally live in California. Of those, nearly 60% live in six Southern California counties: Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura.

-Nearly one in 10 immigrants in the country illegally lives in Los Angeles County. The county also has the highest number of people who may qualify for relief under Obama’s program, with roughly half a million people eligible for the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and 1.1 million eligible for Obama’s new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program.

-The study also looked at application rates for Obama’s original Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. It found that only 57% of those eligible for the program came forward in two years. Immigrants from Honduras, Mexico and Peru applied for the program at the highest rates.

-Mexicans make up the largest percentage of immigrants in the country illegally in almost every county nationwide, including in Los Angeles. Notable exceptions include Boston, where Brazilians predominate, and Miami, where Colombians are the largest group.


The study was conducted using federal Census data. Researchers who wrote the study said it was the first time there has been such a close analysis of immigrants in the country illegally at the county level.

Twitter: @katelinthicum