HispanicBusiness

A new Pew Center report report states that illegal immigration is at a standstill and may even be declining, in a dramatic turnaround from the population boom from last decade.

The standstill appears to be the result of many factors, including the weakened U.S. job and housing construction markets, heightened border enforcement, a rise in deportations, the growing dangers associated with illegal border crossings and the long-term decline in Mexico's birth rates, according to the Pew report released on Tuesday.

Still, the wave of immigration could return as the economy recovers, the report states.

"Even if it doesn't, it has already secured a place in the record books," the report states. "The U.S. today has more immigrants from Mexico alone than any other country in the world has from all countries of the world."

About one out of three U.S. immigrants are Mexican-born.

The story was widely reported by major mainstream outlets.

Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew and co-author of the report, told the Washington Post, "The diminished flow appears largely to be a drop in unauthorized immigrants."
Click here to read the full report.