The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. was actually dropping at the end of the George W. Bush years — but that progress has stopped under President Obama, according to a new report by the Center for Immigration Studies.
With enforcement increasing and the economy souring, CIS said a net of 1 million illegal immigrants left the U.S. from January 2007 to January 2009, as the population went from 11.8 million down to 10.8 million.
But progress has halted since Mr. Obama took office in January 2009 and, if anything, the illegal population in the United States rebounded slightly, to 10.9 million in 2011 — the most recent figures available, according to the study.
CIS, a think tank that argues for stricter immigration limits, uses Census Bureau numbers to make its estimates. The analysts said the numbers show the changes Mr. Obama has made to immigration enforcement appear to be backfiring, and that more people are staying here illegally.
The Homeland Security Department will issue its own official report later this year.
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