As the recession deepened in 2007 and 2008, the number of foreign-born non-citizens living in Rhode Island dropped, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The bureau’s American Community Survey, an annual estimate of population, economic and other data, found that the number of people who are not U.S. citizens in Rhode Island dropped from 72,102 in 2007 to 66,178 in 2008, a decline of 8 percent.

Since the yearly surveys began in 2000, the number of non-citizens living in Rhode Island has mirrored the economy. It dipped from 70,012 in 2001 to 62,960 in 2003, when the so-called “tech recession” dealt only a glancing blow to Rhode Island. Then, as housing prices skyrocketed, the non-citizen population climbed to 75,532 in 2006, the high point for the data available.

The Census Bureau asks people where they were born and whether they are a citizen. From that information, the bureau classifies respondents into a variety of categories, including “Foreign born: Not a citizen.” Others encompass the foreign born who have been naturalized as U.S. citizens, as well as citizens by birth. For the non-citizens, the Census Bureau does not inquire about immigration status, so the data does not say how many might be here illegally and how many might be legal permanent residents or those here on shorter-term visas.

Immigration, especially illegal immigration, has been a hot-button issue in Rhode Island at least since March 2008, when Governor Carcieri signed a six-point executive order to crack down on illegal immigration in Rhode Island.

“Unfortunately, over the last few decades, the federal government has consistently ignored the complex issue of illegal immigration,” Carcieri said when he announced the order. “As a result, the flow of illegal immigrants has become epidemic, with the consequential costs being borne by state taxpayers.”

Carcieri’s order included provisions that certain departments of state government, as well as vendors doing business with the state, use E-verify. The federal program allows employers to screen prospective workers for citizenship and immigration status, thereby blocking those who aren’t authorized to work in the United States. His order does not apply to private employers.

Paul E. Harrington, an economist with the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, said a drop in foreign non-citizen residents often mirror drops in the economy.

“A lot of the immigration you get is just job-based,” he said.

Harrington said that the bad job market doesn’t drive away non-citizens who already live here. “Among new immigrants, there’s usually a lot of turnover,” he said. Normally, as some leave for various reasons, others replace them. In this tough job market, “the flow of people coming in has slowed a little bit,” he said.

During difficult times, non-citizens face obstacles to finding work besides just the tight job market overall, said Joseph Chamie, a demographer at the Center for Migration Studies.

“A lot of people are taking jobs that they wouldn’t have taken before,” Chamie said. Immigrants are facing “competition for jobs that nationals would’ve shunned.”

The federal E-verify program also is squeezing illegal immigrants out of the workforce, he said.

Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for Governor Carcieri, declined to comment on what effect, if any, the governor’s executive order has had on the number of foreign non-citizens living in Rhode Island. “I’ll leave the trend analysis to the experts,” she said.

Kempe pointed to strictly economic reasons for the declining foreign population in Rhode Island. “They have fewer roots and fewer ties to the Rhode Island community and, as such, a smaller support network,” she said. “As jobs are starting to dry up, they look for other places to move to that have a better job market.”

pparker@projo.com