Rosthaug

Conclusion It is sometimes argued that illegal immigrants are so permanently attached to their lives in the United States that they would never return to their home countries. The findings of this report contradict this view.

Monthly data collected by the Census Bureau show a significant drop in the number of less-educated, young, Hispanic immigrants in the country. Prior research indicates that more than three-fourths of these individuals are illegal aliens. The fall in this population implies that the total illegal immigrant population has declined almost 14 percent (1.7 million) from its peak in July 2007. In just the last year the decline between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of this year is almost 6 percent.