About 63% of the 10.2 million adult illegal immigrants in the United States have been living here for 10 years or more, and 46% have children

A study by the Pew Hispanic Center says that the number of long-term illegals has soared over the past decade, with the percentage of illegal adults who have lived in the United States at least 15 years now at 35%, up from 16% in 2000. The Pew report says that the number of long-term illegal immigrants reflects the higher numbers that were able to enter the United States in the 1990s, while the declining percentage of illegal immigrants who have been in America less than five years stems from better border enforcement and the recession. The percentage of those who have been in the United States for less than five years stood at 15% in 2010, down from 32% a decade earlier.