Unidentified and Illegal Immigrant Population

[NJEverCurious]

Hello WS -

Moderators of course may remove this post if it's a duplicate or I've posted in the wrong place. This is just something I've been thinking about.

First, let me say this is NOT meant to start any sort of political discussion, which I think would be inappropriate and irreverent, given the context.

I noticed on NamUs that some of the UIPs' records have comments saying they may have been crossing the border illegally (especially those found in the desert near the border). In my own local area, which is nowhere near the southern border, there is a large population of migrant workers, and we have at least one UIP dating back many years who is believed to have been of Hispanic or Latino heritage. I've started to wonder how many of the UIP's in this country may have been here illegally, in which case it is probably likely that they were never reported missing.

According to factcheck.org, the percentage of the US population represented by illegal immigrants has changed significantly over time. It has been as low as 3.5% (1990) and as high as 12.2% (c. 2007) in the last 30 years or so. If we assume that the percentage of UIP's that are illegal immigrants is similar to their numbers as a proportion of total US population, using an average of 7.85% of the total population to estimate, there could be over 3,400 UIP's who are illegal immigrants. This assumes 44,000 UIP's, per nij.gov. And I'm not making any distinction here between illegal immigrants who overstayed their visas and those who came into the country through deceptive means (e.g., sneaking across the southern border, etc.), just because I haven't gone to that depth in my thinking at this time.

I realize this isn't any kind of scientific statistical analysis whatsoever, but only a very superficial question that I had. I'm really just trying to wrap my mind around how many of the UIP's in this country may never be identified because they haven't been reported missing in this country. And being relatively new to Websleuths, I wonder whether there is any kind of international database (similar to NamUs, but multi-country) to try to find names for these people.

 

[WyomingSkyAngel]

I'm qualified to add some info here. These days a lot of info regarding a UID without legal paperwork can be found by digging through social media or asking friends and family. (Keep in mind "illegals" in the US can be from all parts of Europe and Asia too, not just the places you see mentioned on the news.)
There is a growing network of FB pages and sites that share info about people who have gone missing in the US and Canada from foreign nations.

 

[NJEverCurious]

I'm qualified to add some info here. These days a lot of info regarding a UID without legal paperwork can be found by digging through social media or asking friends and family. (Keep in mind "illegals" in the US can be from all parts of Europe and Asia too, not just the places you see mentioned on the news.)
There is a growing network of FB pages and sites that share info about people who have gone missing in the US and Canada from foreign nations.

Thank you! I've also kind of assumed that someone who overstayed his/her visa may actually be reported missing, and I definitely understand that about half the US illegal immigrant population is people who have overstayed a visa, rather than coming into the country illegally, and they can come from EurAsia, Africa, etc. (Damn biased news media!)

Do you know whether there is any sort of international database to track missing persons reports and/or UID persons?

 

[KaylaraOwl]

Interpol. Also there's a group on Twitter called Alameda who shares a lot of missing cases including people that might have come to the U.S. AS undocumented immigrants. I also follow a woman in Mexico who looks at the Mexican databases and shares a lot of cases close to the border. (Her sn on there is @missing_bc and she's been nice enough to comment and share info on any of the UID's that I post that are likely from down her way.)

 

[NJEverCurious]

Interpol. Also there's a group on Twitter called Alameda who shares a lot of missing cases including people that might have come to the U.S. AS undocumented immigrants. I also follow a woman in Mexico who looks at the Mexican databases and shares a lot of cases close to the border. (Her sn on there is @missing_bc and she's been nice enough to comment and share info on any of the UID's that I post that are likely from down her way.)

That's a huge help - I had never thought of checking Interpol!

The lady you mentioned you tracks MP cases close to the border... Is she on WS, or was that Facebook?

 

[NJEverCurious]

@KaylaraOwl I just looked at Interpol's MP list. It appears their records only go back to the early 1990's. Do you know for certain how far back their records might go?

 

[KaylaraOwl]

I honestly don't know.

 

[KaylaraOwl]

That's a huge help - I had never thought of checking Interpol!

The lady you mentioned you tracks MP cases close to the border... Is she on WS, or was that Facebook?

She's on Twitter