Nevada leads nation in unauthorized immigrants

A report from the Pew Research Center shows the number of immigrants who are in Nevada illegally has dropped by about 20,000 people from 2009 to 2012.

But Nevada still has the largest share of unauthorized immigrants of any state. Pew reports that about 210,000 people, or 7.6 percent of Nevada residents, are in the country illegally.

The study released Tuesday also found that nearly 18 percent of Nevada students have at least one unauthorized immigrant parent.

Pew says the number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally has remained steady at 11.2 million from 2009 to 2012, but trends at the state level have shifted.

Fourteen states have seen declines in their unauthorized immigrant populations, largely due to fewer new arrivals from Mexico and more people returning to Mexico.

— Associated Press