Study: Fewer illegal immigrants entered US in recent years

Sep 2, 2010, 12:25 GMT

Washington - Fewer immigrants entered the United States illegally from 2007-09, a study by the Pew Hispanic Centre said Wednesday.

'The annual inflow of unauthorized immigrants to the United States was nearly two-thirds smaller in the March 2007 to March 2009 period than it had been from March 2000 to March 2005,' the study said.

The study does not draw a conclusion about why fewer migrants entered the US, but notes that the declining rate of illegal immigration coincided with the start of the recession and stepped up attempts to secure the border.

The US government pointed to law enforcement efforts as a driving factor in the decline.

'This administration's unprecedented commitment of manpower, technology and infrastructure to the south-west border has been a major factor in this dramatic drop in illegal crossings,' said Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler.

The decline led to an 8 per cent drop to 11.1 million illegal immigrants living in the US, from 12 million in March 2007. It was the first significant drop in two decades, Pew said.

The largest drop was among immigrants from Latin American countries other than Mexico.