Illegal immigrant arrivals in the U.S. lag those of legal immigrants

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For the first time in a decade, the makeup of the U.S. immigrant population may be shifting, with the number of illegal immigrants entering the country falling behind the number of those entering legally, according to an independent report released Thursday.

The swing, a possible result of the economic slump and a federal immigration crackdown, marks a reversal of a pattern begun in the 1990s, when the number of newly arrived illegal immigrants surpassed those arriving lawfully, according to the study by the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington think tank.

‘This is a population that had been growing rapidly and substantially for at least 15 years, and the growth has essentially come to a halt in 2008,’ said Jeffrey S. Passel, a senior demographer at the center who co-wrote the report.

The report estimates that 11.9 million illegal immigrants were living in the United States as of March, making up nearly 4% of the population.

From 2000 to 2004, about 800,000 illegal immigrants a year entered the U.S., more than 90% of them from Latin America. Since then, the average has dropped to about 500,000 a year. By contrast, legal immigration has remained steady at about 650,000 people a year.

Read on about changes in the arrival patterns of legal versus illegal immigrants here.

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-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City