Share of Latinos who are immigrants is declining

The share of U.S. Latinos who are foreign-born is declining — and for two reasons:

Foreign immigration has stalled and births of native-born Latinos is growing.

So says a new Pew Research Center study, which also shows Utah has the 12th highest share of population that is Latino among the states, 13.3 percent.

The study, released Tuesday, also says Utah's Latino population grew by 88.5 percent between 2000 and 2012.

About 35.5 percent of all Latinos nationally were foreign-born in 2012, down from about 40 percent earlier in the 2000s, according to the study analyzing estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

"The slowdown in growth of the Hispanic foreign-born population coincides with a decline in Mexican migration to the United States," the study said. "Today, about as many people from Mexico are leaving the U.S. as entering, after four decades of explosive growth."

It added, "Many factors have played a role in this trend, including the U.S. economic downturn, stepped-up border enforcement, growing dangers associated with illegal border crossings and demographic and economic changes in Mexico."

The study said that, even as Latino immigration decreases, "rapid growth in the number of Latino births means the Latino population will continue to grow at a steady clip. Latinos are the nation's largest minority, and one of its fastest growing."

Utah's Latino population jumped from 201,203 in 2000 to 379,249 in 2012 — an 88.5 percent increase. Latinos comprise 13.3 percent of the state's population, up from 9 percent in 2000.

The study said 8.3 percent of Utah's population is foreign-born. Of the state's 236,249 foreign-born residents, the largest number comes from Mexico — 98,398, 42 percent of the total.