The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. fell to 10.7 million in 2016, which is the lowest number in more than a decade, says the Pew Research Center.
That’s down about 1.5 million people in 2007, when an estimated 12.2 undocumented immigrants were residing in America.
In the nine-year span covering 2007 to 2016, the illegal immigrant population was reduced by 13%.During that same time, though, legal immigrants rose by a whopping 22%. Two years ago, 34.4 million lawful immigrants, both noncitizens on permanent visas and naturalized citizens made up America’s population.
Unauthorized immigrants are staying U.S. residents significantly longer. In 2007, the average length of an undocumented American inhabitant was 8.6 years; nine years later, it ballooned to an average 14.8 years.
Since 2007, only three states have seen increases in undocumented populations: Louisiana (15,000), Massachusetts (35,000) and 60,000 in Maryland. But there were overwhelming declines in a dozen states, including New York, which saw its number of illegals shrink by 300,000; Florida’s was reduced by 240,000; and California experienced a dropoff of 550,000 undocumented residents. Other states that experienced lower rates were New Jersey, Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Arkansas, Alabama, Nevada.