Number of illegal immigrants in USA down

Updated 2m ago
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY

The number of immigrants coming to the USA illegally every year has plummeted — the first significant decline in two decades, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report out today.

The total number of illegal immigrants in the country is down from a peak of 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million in 2009, the report says.

The annual inflow of about 300,000 illegal immigrants from 2007 to 2009 was almost two-thirds smaller than it had been from 2000 to 2005, when it reached an average 850,000 a year.

"These are very sizable drops," says Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer at the non-partisan Pew Hispanic Center. "Over the last four years, they've been going down steadily."

The recession and housing collapse have dried up job opportunities. At the same time, border enforcement is stiffer and more states and local governments are approving measures to crack down on illegal immigrants.

"We know the cost of being smuggled into the United States has gone up and more people are using smugglers because it's harder to get in and it's more dangerous," Passel says. "If you're facing more expenses and more danger and more difficulty and at the same time it's much harder to find a job here …."

The drop in illegal immigrants is most dramatic along the Southeast Coast and the Mountain West. It fell in Florida, Nevada and Virginia. The combined population of illegal immigrants in Arizona, Colorado and Utah also tumbled.

Arizona has been at the center of a controversial crackdown on illegal immigration that is stalled in court. The drop may be evidence that the state's enforcement efforts are having an impact, says Steven Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates controlled immigration.

Communities across the USA have passed laws to reduce the number of undocumented residents. In Virginia's Prince William County, a Washington suburb, police officers must ask about the immigration status of anyone under arrest.

"It's not surprising the number of illegal aliens has declined in light of increased enforcement efforts by municipalities," says Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. "It's a combination of the weak economy, the severe downturn in the construction industry and the increased immigration enforcement efforts."

The influx of illegal immigrants will pick up again as soon as the economy improves, Stewart says. "We can't assume that illegal immigration is permanently on the decline."

Stewart is behind the Virginia Rule of Law campaign that wants anti-illegal immigration measures statewide. Among them: Prohibit illegal immigrants from registering their car or from owning or renting real estate.

There were 7.8 million illegal immigrants in the workforce in 2009, the Pew report says. They made up a smaller share of the total labor force — 5.1% vs. 5.5% in 2007.

The Pew estimates mirror those released by the Department of Homeland Security. The government said 10.8 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the USA in January 2009, compared with a peak of 11.8 million in 2007.

"Whatever is going on, fewer people are coming, and more people are leaving," Camarota says.

The Pew research shows signs of a reverse movement back to some Latin American countries but not back to Mexico, Passel says. Mexicans account for about 60% of illegal immigrants.

"We don't see any indication that Mexicans are leaving in larger numbers," he says.

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