More than 1.1 million illegal immigrant parents in California will qualify for deportation protection under President Obama’s executive immigration action, according to the results of a Pew Research Center Study.
According to the study, 1,116,000 immigrant parents in California are eligible for deportation protection, the highest total of any state in the country. The number of eligible parents in California is about double the amount of the state with the next highest total, Texas, where 560,000 immigrant parents will qualify, reports the Los Angeles Times.
President Obama’s action will allow 51% of all illegal immigrants in California to qualify for deportation protection, according to the Times.
An additional 925,000 immigrants will be newly protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act, or DACA, which was previously limited to those who had arrived as children prior to 2007. The act now offers protection to those who arrived before 2010.
Rounding out the top ten states with newly protected immigrant parents are New York with 234,000; Illinois with 199,000; Florida with 163,000; New Jersey with 137,000; Georgia with 122,000; North Carolina with 117,000; Arizona with 97,000; and Washington with 77,000.
Of the roughly one million illegal immigrants that qualify for deportation protection in California, 40% will be eligible to receive Medi-Cal, the state’s free health service.