Report: More illegal immigrants caught at border came from outside Mexico

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- For the first time in U.S. Border Patrol recorded history, fewer Mexican migrants were caught entering the United States illegally than non-Mexicans, marking a growing change to the unauthorized population trying to enter the country.

Pew researchers said 229,178 Mexican immigrants were caught at the border in 2014, compared to 257,473 non-Mexicans. The last time the number of illegal Mexican migrants was this low was in 1970, when 219,000 were stopped. That same year, about 12,000 non-Mexicans were apprehended, researchers found after reviewing 60 years of data.

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security noted the surge in non-Mexican undocumented immigrants. The 68 percent increase in non-Mexican illegal immigrants in 2014 over the previous year was driven in part by the influx of Central American migrants that began in early summer.

The Pew research said that although the number of Mexican migrants has dropped, it's still significant.

"Mexico remains the top country of origin for the nation's unauthorized immigrants, but their numbers have declined since 2007," Pew researchers said. "Despite the decline, the estimated 5.9 million unauthorized immigrants from Mexico still account for a majority (52%) of the nation's unauthorized immigrant population."