The number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a new Pew Research Center study.
Based on government data, the study estimates that there were 10.7 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. in 2016, down from a high point of 12.2 million in 2007 and the lowest since 2004.
This decline is mostly due to a decrease in the number of Mexicans illegally entering the U.S. and the fact that most regions have either remained steady in immigration numbers in the past decade or declined.
In 2007, almost 7,000 Mexican immigrants migrated to the U.S. illegally, and in 2016, only 5,450 unauthorized entries were recorded.
Pew, however, notes that there is a growing number of illegal entries from Central America’s “Northern Triangle” countries, which include El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Central America was the only region from the study that saw an increase in illegal immigration to the U.S., rising from about 1,500 in 2007 to 1,850 in 2016.
Immigrants from these three countries, and others in Central America, make up a thousands-strong migrant caravan that is arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Trump has long warned of the caravan’s trip through Central America and Mexico and has sent troops to the border to prepare for its arrival.
The Pew study follows a September report from Yale University that found there are 22 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., twice as much as Pew estimates.
