Recent researches show that although U.S. born residents are still responsible for the majority of uninsured people in the country, uninsured immigrants are becoming more and more common in the country. The study revealed that as of 2006, immigrants accounted for 26,6% of the uninsured residents in the USA, in comparison with 18,8% in 1994. The same study found that 34.1 million of U.S. born residents and 12,5 million of immigrants were uninsured.
Other important information revealed is that 58,7% of uninsured immigrants live in states such as Texas, New York, Florida and California. While 19,9% of uninsured immigrants already gained American citizenship, 46% of noncitizen immigrants still don't have any insurance. Specialists say that many factors seem to contribute to such high rates of uninsured immigrants, particularly because they are more likely to take jobs which do not offer insurance plans or benefits. In addition, law mandates legal immigrants to live at least for five years before they become eligible for health care programs and insurance.