New Immigration Study Out But Can It Be Trusted?

The New York Times today is citing a new immigration study that shows that immigration is up and at least half of that growth is due to undocumented immigration.

Immigration over the past seven years was the highest for any seven-year period in American history, bringing 10.3 million new immigrants, more than half of them without legal status, according to an analysis of census data released today by the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.
One in eight people living in the United States is an immigrant, the survey found, for a total of 37.9 million people — the highest level since the 1920s

The Center for Immigration Studies, led by Steven A. Camarota, advocates reduced immigration. The data itself is said to be good but not the analysis of that data.

The survey focuses on public costs associated with the new generation of immigrant workers. It does not, however, analyze contributions they make by paying taxes and taking undesirable, low-income jobs — an omission criticized by some immigration scholars.

The study is especially focused on how much public assistance undocumented immigrants receive, especially in terms of health care. Another study recently released, states that undocumented immigrants are not the burden on the health care system anti-immigration advocates make them out to be.

So which study to believe?

Sources : The New York Times, VivirLatino