Family Life

02.10.10 | FL News Team

Increased law enforcement along the border and shrinking employment opportunities led to a sharp decrease in illegal immigrants over the past two years. "The Washington Times" cites data from the Homeland Security Department that shows the number of immigrants dropped by nearly one-million from 2007 to 2009. The data reveals that more illegal immigrants left the U.S. to go home, while fewer tried to cross the border. More than 400-thousand illegal immigrants from Mexico are believed to have left the U.S in the last two years. Homeland Security says there were ten-point-eight million illegal immigrants in January 2009, down from eleven-point-eight million in 2007 and eleven-point-six in 2008. The latest numbers could play role in the illegal immigration issue should Congress take up the matter sometime later this year.