The amount of undocumented immigrants residing in the US has stayed at the same level of 11.1 million for the sixth consecutive year, a report released on Tuesday claims. An increase in undocumented immigrants from other areas has been offset by a fall in the amount coming from Mexico, according to the report.
The undocumented population of the US peaked at the record figure of 12.2 million in 2007, following 20 years of continuous growth. That number began to drop with the recession in 2008 and has been stable since 2014. This is suggested by the Pew Research Center report, based on the most recent available data.
The nature of the nation’s undocumented immigrants has changed, with many becoming long-term residents of communities. Since 2014, 66% of undocumented immigrants had been living in the US for at least ten years or longer, compared with 36 percent in 2000. D’Vera Cohn and Jeffrey Passel, co-authors of the report, say that the unauthorized immigrant population of the country has become more settled at the same time as it has stabilized.
The Pew report shows that the biggest share of the country’s undocumented immigrant population is still Mexicans, at 52 percent. Their share has fallen in recent years with improvements in the economy in Mexico as well as tighter border security and poorer job prospects in the US. The number of illegal immigrants from Africa, Asia and Central America has risen by 37.5, 11.5 and 6.3 percent respectively.