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Lowest number of undocumented migrants in US since 2004: study

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The number of undocumented migrants living in the United States has fallen to 10.7 million, the lowest since 2004, according to a Pew Research Center study, which attributed the decline to a big drop in undocumented Mexicans.

Pew, which based its latest findings on government figures from 2016, said the number of undocumented immgrants in the United States peaked in 2007 at an estimated 12.2 million people.

Between 2007 and 2016, the number of Mexicans in the United States illegally plummeted by 1.5 million, according to the study released Tuesday.

Nevertheless, people of Mexican origin still account for half of all undocumented migrants in the United States -- some 5.4 million people in 2016, Pew said.

Two-thirds of undocumented adults have been living in the United States for more than ten years, a figure that has been rising sharply since 2007.

The number of undocumented migrants from Central America, however, rose by 375,000 between 2007 and 2016, according to Pew.

US President Donald Trump has made illegal immigration a signature issue since his 2016 presidential campaign, which he launched with accusations that Mexico was sending drug traffickers, criminals and rapists across its northern border.

He used the approach of a migrant caravan from Central America as a foil for his views ahead of the November 6 mid-term election in the United States, evoking images of an "invasion."

The number of undocumented migrants living in the United States has fallen to 10.7 million, the lowest since 2004, according to a Pew Research Center study, which attributed the decline to a big drop in undocumented Mexicans.

Pew, which based its latest findings on government figures from 2016, said the number of undocumented immgrants in the United States peaked in 2007 at an estimated 12.2 million people.

Between 2007 and 2016, the number of Mexicans in the United States illegally plummeted by 1.5 million, according to the study released Tuesday.

Nevertheless, people of Mexican origin still account for half of all undocumented migrants in the United States — some 5.4 million people in 2016, Pew said.

Two-thirds of undocumented adults have been living in the United States for more than ten years, a figure that has been rising sharply since 2007.

The number of undocumented migrants from Central America, however, rose by 375,000 between 2007 and 2016, according to Pew.

US President Donald Trump has made illegal immigration a signature issue since his 2016 presidential campaign, which he launched with accusations that Mexico was sending drug traffickers, criminals and rapists across its northern border.

He used the approach of a migrant caravan from Central America as a foil for his views ahead of the November 6 mid-term election in the United States, evoking images of an “invasion.”

AFP
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