The American Dream /mritems/Images/2011/9/8/20119813475140580_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198134035805734_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198133440220734_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198133037263337_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198134340574360_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198134619796919_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198134230823734_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198132918403621_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198132059126368_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198134147775987_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198132352761621_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/20119813231458140_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198133335406846_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198134535701580_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/20119813323623351_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198133725989580_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198132449464683_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198133619722842_8.jpg;*;/mritems/Images/2011/9/8/201198133922928630_8.jpg As of January 2010, there were believed to be about 10.8 million undocumented people living in the US - down from about 11.8 million in 2007 [GALLO/GETTY];*;But some experts suggest the number could, in fact, be as high as 20 million people [GALLO/GETTY];*;There are an estimated 2.1 million undocumented children and young people in the US - many of these are unaware of their (***)illegal(***) status until they attempt to apply for college admission or for a driver(***)s license [GALLO/GETTY];*;The majority of the undocumented residents of the US - approximately 62% - are from Mexico [GALLO/GETTY];*;Economic opportunities remain the number one reason for immigration to the US [GALLO/GETTY];*;In 2010, there were an estimated 8 million unauthorised immigrants in the US workforce [GALLO/GETTY];*;Many immigrants living and working in the US send much of their earnings home to help support their families [GALLO/GETTY];*;In recent years there has been a national backlash against illegal immigration, perhaps most noticeably reflected in the debate surrounding the Arizona SB 1070 Act [GALLO/GETTY];*;The US border patrol currently employs more than 20,000 agents who patrol about 13,000km of land and coastal borders [GALLO/GETTY];*;From October 2004 until September 2005, 460 migrants died crossing the US-Mexico border [GALLO/GETTY];*;Arizona is considered the most treacherous place to cross, but it is often favoured because it is remote and difficult to patrol [GALLO/GETTY];*;But, according to the US Government Accountability Office, Mexico(***)s border with Texas is the most vulnerable [GALLO/GETTY];*;According to a report by the US Government Accountability Office, the US border control caught 445,000 illegal entries in 2010 [GALLO/GETTY];*;According to a Pew report, roughly 300,000 illegal immigrants crossed the border annually between 2007 and 2009 [GALLO/GETTY];*;But that was down from about 850,000 annually from 2000 to 2005 [GALLO/GETTY];*;More than one million people have been deported since President Obama took office [GALLO/GETTY];*;In 2009 and 2010, the Obama administration stepped up its campaign of deportation by removing nearly 400,000 immigrants a year [GALLO/GETTY];*;About 400,000 immigration detainees are kept in a patchwork of jail and prison cells over the course of a year [GALLO/GETTY];*;If passed, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act would allow qualifying undocumented youth a six-year-long conditional path to citizenship [GALLO/GETTY] 0