With the immigration debate heating up - and a federal court case over Arizona's SB 1070 brewing - you'd think that the U.S. was besieged by growing numbers of illegal immigrants.

But you'd be wrong.

Despite the heightened rhetoric and the bloodcurdling vitriol surrounding the issue, illegal immigration has actually declined significantly over the past few years. While journalists like to characterize the anger over immigration as a response to facts on the ground - i.e. people are inundated and incensed - the numbers don't bear them out.

In fact, the opposite is true. According to a February report by the Department of Homeland Security, the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States actually dropped by a whopping 1 million between 2008 and 2009, which amounts to the sharpest decrease in 30 years. It was the second year of declining numbers.

Likewise, the Border Patrol reports that apprehensions are down by more than 60 percent since 2000, to 550,000 last year, the lowest number in 35 years, even though the border is more tightly controlled than ever. As William Finnegan wrote in last week's New Yorker, "The southern border, far from being ‘unsecured,' is in better shape than it has been for years - better managed and less porous."