Caribbean US illegal immigrant decline

A new report has found that the number of Caribbean and other illegal immigrants living in the United States has declined for the first time in two decades.



The report, issued yesterday by the Pew Hispanic Centre, a Washington-based independent research group, is based on an analysis of 2009 census data.



It attributes much of the decline to a sharp drop-off in illegal immigrants from the Caribbean, Central America and South America.



The report says illegal immigrants decreased by eight per cent as jobs declined in America because of the economic recession.



The Pew Hispanic Centre says in March 2009, there were 11.1 million unauthorised immigrants in the US, compared with 12 million in March 2007.



The report also says that illegal immigrants from the Caribbean, Central and South America, decreased by 22 per cent in the 2007-2009 period.