Illegal Immigrants at 11 Million

A 2-year decline in the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. during the recession has halted, according to a new estimate by the Pew Hispanic Center. The nonpartisan research group reported that 11.2 million undocumented immigrants lived in the U.S. in March 2010, compared with 11.1 million a year earlier, a difference Pew researchers said wasn't statistically significant. There were 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. in 2007, when the population peaked.

"That suggests the number of new unauthorized immigrants entering the country is balanced by those leaving," said Pew demographer Jeffrey Passel, lead author of the study. There is no evidence that illegal immigrants are moving out of the U.S. in growing numbers, he added.

The economy has been the primary factor behind recent demographic changes in the undocumented population, experts said.

"Clearly, the economy is central when people consider whether to leave their home countries," said Chris Newman, legal director of the National Daylaborer Organizing Network, which represents 43 day-laborer centers across the country. "As the economy rebounds and there's increased demand for their labor, we can expect them to come in larger numbers."

Also constricting the flow of illegal immigrants are intensifying border security, including stiffer penalties for illegal entry, and steep fees charged by "coyotes," who smuggle people across the border.

Even as it stabilizes, the size of the illegal population is still a third bigger than its level in 2000 of 8.4 million, and three times as large as in 1990, when it stood at 3.5 million.

The number of illegal immigrants in the work force, eight million in March 2010, was slightly below the year-earlier figure of 8.4 million, according to the Pew analysis.

Following Arizona's lead last year, lawmakers from about a dozen states have said they would introduce bills in their state legislatures to crack down on illegal immigrants. But passage of such proposals in cash-strapped states is uncertain, given the likelihood that they would attract costly lawsuits. Key provisions of Arizona's law were frozen by a judge last year, and the state is battling the federal government in court.

At 11 million, undocumented immigrants account for 28 percent of the foreign-born population in the U.S. and 4 percent of the total U.S. population.

Pew's estimates are based on analysis of data from the Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.