An immigrant, legal or illegal, arrives in the U.S. every 30 seconds

The U.S. Census Bureau now admits that a new immigrant arrives in the United States every 30 seconds. The agency predicted that the nation's population on January 1, 2008 would be 303,146, 284, almost a full one-percent increase from a year ago. Census Bureau demographers said the nation's growth is 'about what we expected."

Immigrants were responsible for more than one-third of an estimated nationwide population growth of almost 2.87 million between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007. About 667,000 immigrants moved to Southern and Western states in the 12-month period ending July 1 — almost double the number who relocated to the Northeast and Midwest, the Census Bureau says.

Nevada is the nation's fastest-growing state, with an overall population increase of 2.9 percent for the 12-month period ending July 1. Arizona, which was the fastest-growing state between 2005 and 2006, slipped to second place. Nevada and Arizona had most of their population gains from other states or foreign nations, not new births. More than 41,000 of Nevada's 72,955 new residents came from other states, while almost 11,000 came from other countries.

Texas' population gain of almost 500,000 people was more than any other state. Runner-up California added about 303,000. California remained the country's most populous state this year, with 36.6 million residents, followed by Texas with 23.9 million and New York with 19.3 million.