The number of unauthorized immigrants in Arizona is dropping dramatically. A report from the Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends Project found the unauthorized immigrant populations in Arizona have decreased by 40,000 from 2009 to 2012.
Other states with decreases are California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon.
“The states in the Southwest have very large shares of their unauthorized population from Mexico," said demographer Jeff Passel, who worked on the study. "In the states where unauthorized numbers decreased, it was due to a decrease in the number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants living in the state.”
According to Passel, those increases are a result of immigrants coming from places other than Mexico.
“The economy in the U.S. relative to Mexico, Mexico is actually doing a little bit better," Passel said. "The enforcement efforts at the border made it more expensive and more difficult to get in. And the violence in Northern Mexico made it more dangerous to get in."
States with increases in the unauthorized immigrant population are Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
