Study: Nearly 1.5 million workers could benefit from immigration policy shift

When President Barack Obama made the historic announcement in June that may prevent children of undocumented worker parents from being deported, it likely sent shivers of elation down immigrants' spines, as it could potentially make it easier for them to send money home to their loved ones who they're providing for. And a recent report indicates just how many people stand to benefit from the administration's immigration policy.

According to the Pew Hispanic Research Center, which is an offshoot of the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center, at least 1.4 million children and young adults could be impacted by the deportation policy change. Among the estimated number of immigrants that the announcement could be of service to, roughly 700,000 of them are between the ages of 18 and 30, a span of time in which many people are out working and who have families of their own to take care of. The remaining 700,000 are under age of 18, most of whom are enrolled in high school.

The report also revealed that of these undocumented workers, most originate from one country in particular. Pew says that 70 percent of the 1.4 million potential beneficiaries of the Obama administration's new immigration policy come from Mexico.

This data backs up a separate report that was also conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, which found that in 2010, roughly 65 percent of the Hispanic population in the U.S. emigrated from Mexico. In addition, the report also indicated the parts of the country Mexicans lived and worked in. For the most part, the largest share of the Mexican population was located in Los Angeles County, California, totaling 3.5 million at the time. Nearly 10 percent of Hispanics in the U.S. were living in Los Angeles County.

While the president's policy has to go through the legislative process for it to become law, it's likely that this will change immigrants' opinions about President Obama's undocumented worker stance. Last year, Pew found that 59 percent of Latinos opposed it. It may also lead to a significant decline in the number of undocumented workers who are deported, as roughly 30 percent more unauthorized workers were deported in 2009 and 2010 when contrasted with 2001 and 2002.