Illegal immigration drops after decade-long rise

By Hope Yen
Published December 6, 2012 5:50pm ET
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Illegal immigration drops after decade-long rise
FILE - In this June 28, 2011, file photo, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and immigration reform activist Jose Antonio Vargas, listens as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Education Secretary Arne Duncan testify at a hearing regarding immigration reform and the DREAM Act on Capitol Hill in Washington. Legal immigrants living in the U.S. now surpass in number those who entered the country illegally, reflecting a dwindling inflow of Latino migrants that is creating political pressure for an immigration fix that gives legal status to the millions of undocumented already here. "The priority now is to push a vigorous debate about the undocumented people already here. We want to become citizens and not face the threat of deportation or be treated as second class," said Vargas. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) | Charles Dharapak

WASHINGTON (AP) — New census data released Thursday affirm a clear and sustained drop in illegal immigration, ending more than a decade of increases.

The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. dropped to an estimated 11.1 million last year from a peak of 12 million in 2007, part of an overall waning of Hispanic immigration. For the first time since 1910, Hispanic immigration last year was topped by immigrants from Asia.

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