The Texas Republican has co-authored a bill that would create a temporary worker visa, as well as a mandatory system for employers to check on the immigration status of prospective employees.

The Pew report said immigration levels closely mirror economic conditions in the United States — as the economy improves, immigration increases — suggesting that the lure of jobs is a strong factor in attracting people to this country. The U.S. economy appears to be a stronger factor than economic conditions in the countries sending immigrants here, the report said. "The U.S. economy was obviously a very important factor in determining these flows," said Suro.

Among the report's findings:

• Since 2001, the number of legal permanent residents entering the United States has declined from 578,000 to 455,000, while the number of illegal immigrants has increased from 549,000 to 562,000. Legal, temporary residents account for the remainder of people entering the country.

"We've seen a fairly steady growth in the number of undocumented immigrants living here, and this data show very sizable numbers coming in," Passel said. "We're clearly not stopping them at the border."

Declines in legal immigration "appear to reflect processing backlogs, security delays and other developments that followed the Sept. 11 attacks," the report said.

• Mexico accounted for about a third of all U.S. immigrants, a percentage that was steady from 1992 to 2004. Other Latin American countries accounted for about 20 percent of all immigrants, Asia accounted for a little more than a quarter, and Europe and Canada combined to account for about 14 percent.

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Contributing: Deborah Bulkeley, Deseret Morning News