Illegal immigrants

The illegal immigration population in America has stopped growing, according to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center.

The center's study of census data found there are 11.9 million illegal immigrants in the United States this year. That is down from 12.4 million last year and up from 8.4 million in 2000.

Jeffrey Passel, who analyzed the data, affirmed that fewer illegal immigrants are coming to America. From 2000 to 2005, 800,000 illegal immigrants were arriving annually. That number has declined to an average of 500,000 the past three years.

"Each year seems to be less," Mr. Passel told USA Today. "If we look at the most recent one to two years, there's no indication of growth."

For the first time in a decade, the number of illegal immigrants entering the country each year has fallen below the number of newly arrived legal permanent residents.

Of course, stricter enforcement of immigration rules has been a factor in the decline. Workplace raids have done their part. Authorities have arrested hundreds of workers at a time, thus discouraging other illegal immigrants from seeking work in the United States as well.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent more than 339,000 illegal immigrants home in the past year.

But the struggling economy has something to do with the decline in illegal immigrants as well. Said William Frey of the Brookings Institution: "Illegal immigrants follow the networks of their friends and families. They hear about jobs drying up, and they decide this isn't the time to come."

The message is getting across.