The nation in brief

WASHINGTON — The number of migrants in the U.S. without legal status has declined to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a new report released Tuesday.

The Pew Research Center said an estimated 10.7 million people lacked legal status in 2016, down from 11 million a year earlier and from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007 before the U.S. economy slumped. It is the lowest estimate since 2004, the report said.

The decline stems largely from a drop in the number of Mexicans living in the U.S. illegally, from nearly 7 million in 2007 to 5.5 million in 2016.

During the same period, the estimated number of migrants from Central America without legal status increased to nearly 1.9 million from 1.5 million.

The report comes as the Trump administration has cracked down on immigration and bolstered security on the Southwest border, where thousands of Central American families have arrived to seek asylum.

The report is based on U.S. Census Bureau data. It also noted an increase in the number of people without legal status from India and Venezuela and a decrease in those from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Korea and Peru.

Overall, immigrants without legal status are less likely to be recent arrivals, said D’Vera Cohn, a co-author of the report.