WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- After 40 years of increases, the number of immigrants living in the United States declined between 2007 and 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
The number of non-citizens, a term that includes legal residents and illegal immigrants, dropped from 21.9 million in 2007 to 21.6 million in 2008, CNN reported.
The number of foreign-born people comprised 12.6 percent of the U.S. population in 2007 and 12.5 percent in 2008, the bureau said.
In the same period, the number of naturalized citizens increased, statistics show. That may be because of a lot of immigrants became citizens during voter-registration drives before the 2008 elections, said Michelle Mittelstadt, communications director at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.
Naturalizations grew at a record pace between 2006 and 2008, when 2.4 million immigrants became citizens, the Department of Homeland Security said.
Although the survey doesn't give a reason for the leveling off, experts cite the recession.
"The recession has had a significant effect on immigrants' decisions on
whether to come to the U.S.," Mittelstadt said.
She said some who may have come to the United States illegally or as temporary workers in previous years have decided to stay in their home countries because of the economic downturn.
The biggest declines in the foreign-born populations were in states hardest hit by the recession, including California, Florida and Arizona, CNN said.
