The number of immigrants living in California illegally fell from 2.5 million to 2.3 million between 2009 and 2014, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. The overall drop is due mostly to a decline in the number of Mexican immigrants in the state illegally.
There were 11.1 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally in 2014, which has held steady since 2009. But Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, who make up more than half of the overall population, fell by about 600,000 in the same period. The national decline has mostly been made up by increases in immigrants here illegally from Asia, Central America and sub-Saharan Africa, according to Pew.
What's behind this recent stabilization? And which states have seen increases in the number of immigrants there illegally?
Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew Research Center, joins KPBS Midday Edition on Friday with more details on what the U.S. Census Bureau data reveals about immigration patterns.