A recent study showed that the number of illegal immigrants in the United States fell to 10.7 million in 2016, its lowest level since 2004, largely due to a decline in the number of immigrants from Mexico.
According to the Pew Research Center, based on US census data and other figures starting in 2016, the number of illegal immigrants in the United States has fallen dramatically since peaking in 2007 at 12.2 million.
The researchers believe that part of the decline is due to the US economic recession in 2007 and the subsequent slow recovery, limiting employment opportunities for immigrants.
Devera Kun, one of the researchers involved in preparing the Pew Center report, said economic factors and immigration laws may have combined to deter immigrants from coming to the United States or returning home.
US President Donald Trump has made implementation of immigration laws a key issue for his administration, and has recently urged the US Congress to allow the funding of a wall along the border with Mexico and the deployment of troops before the arrival of groups of immigrants from Central America.
Mexico remains the country where about half of the illegal immigrants in the United States go, but the number has fallen by 1.5 million between 2007 and 2016, according to the Pew report.
With the decline in the number of Mexicans, Asians accounted for 22 percent of illegal immigrants who recently arrived in the United States, the report said.
