Jeffrey Passel and D'Vera Cohn point out in the 2010 study, which estimated the population of undocumented citizens by state, that in California alone , nearly 2 million jobs were lost. by the illegal population (Passel and Cohn). At first glance, this number is relatively small, considering that California's total population exceeds 38 million. However, if you look at the unemployment rate, which is around 6%, you can do some simple math and see that the number of jobs held by illegal immigrants is also around 6%, so deporting these immigrants, this could potentially reduce the unemployment rate.