Undocumented population in U.S. holds steady; some increase in a few states

The total population of undocumented immigrants living in the United States has remained largely unchanged since 2009, although it has risen in Virginia and a few other states, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday.

The report, by Pew Research, said an estimated 11.1 million immigrants who were living in the country illegally in 2014, compared with 11.3 million in 2009.

“The recent relative stability in the estimated size of the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population is a contrast to previous periods,” Pew said. The number rose through the 1990s and early 2000s, peaking at 12.2 million in 2007.

Virginia had an estimated 300,000 undocumented immigrants in 2014, an increase of 20 percent.

Other states where the number rose included Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington state. Only Louisiana’s increase could be traced to a rise in the number of undocumented immigrants from Mexico.

Nationwide, the number of undocumented immigrants from Mexico declined about 8 percent in 2014, to 5.85 million. “The decrease in the Mexican unauthorized immigrant population since 2009 indicates that departures have exceeded arrivals,” the report said.

The population of undocumented immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa jumped 35 percent to 275,000, while the number from Asia jumped 10 percent to 1.45 million, and the total from Central America rose 6.8 percent to 1.7 million.

Mexicans still made up the majority of the undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2014.

Pew said the undocumented-immigrant population continues to become more settled, with such individuals living in the United States for a median of 13.6 years in 2014 compared with a median of eight years in 2005.

Also, new arrivals make up a smaller share of the undocumented population. Fourteen percent of undocumented immigrants had lived in the United States for less than five years in 2014, compared to 31 percent in 2005.