[JURIST] The rate of illegal immigration into the United States has increased despite tighter security measures in place since the September 11 terror attacks, but only at a pace that parallels the rate of economic growth, according to a report [PDF text] released Tuesday. The report from the Pew Hispanic Center [organization website], a nonpartisan research organization, found that the implementation of tighter security measures [JURIST report] has created processing backlogs and delays that have hindered legal immigration [JURIST news archive], while the lure of high-paying jobs has continued to attract both legal and illegal immigrants into the United States [US CIS guide]. Tighter security measures, however, have led to an overall decrease in the level of legal immigration into the US. The report comes one month after the governors of New Mexico and Arizona declared states of emergency in order to free up money to combat illegal immigration. Four California lawmakers also announced last month their intent to introduce legislation [JURIST report] that would declare a state of emergency to deal with illegal immigration from Mexico. AP has more.