U.S. Seeing Lowest Level Of Unauthorized Immigrants In A Decade, Pew Study Says

Amid the current headlines about migrant caravans and an “invasion” of unauthorized immigrants, the number of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally actually fell to its lowest level in more than a decade, a new study finds.

The study, by the Pew Research Center, is based on 2016 government data. It estimates that there were 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. that year. That’s down from a high point of 12.2 million in 2007.

The study’s authors say the dramatic drop is “due almost entirely to a sharp decline in the number of Mexicans entering the country without authorization.”