Pew Research Center’s report, based on the available government data from the U.S. and Mexico, shows that Mexican immigration to the U.S. has fallen. The study shows that the number of Mexicans who have returned to Mexico from the U.S. is more than the number of those who came to the U.S., since 2009.
Around one million Mexicans left the U.S. for Mexico along with their U.S. citizen children between 2009 and 2014. U.S. census data shows that around 870,000 Mexicans came to the U.S. during the same period. This is less when compared to the number of those who left the country. 1.6 million Mexican immigrants trying to cross the U.S. border were apprehended in 2000 while only 229,178 Mexican immigrants were apprehended in 2014. This drop in apprehensions shows that there is a decrease in the number of Mexican immigrants coming to the U.S. Pew’s reports also show that more non-Mexicans were apprehended at the U.S. border than Mexicans, in 2014.
There are several reasons why there is a decline in the flow of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. One reason is the Great Recession that stripped many Mexican immigrants off their jobs. The recession also made the U.S. less attractive to Mexicans. Stricter border enforcement is another reason. Increased enforcement resulted in the increased deportation of Mexican immigrants.
Most of the one million Mexican immigrants who left the U.S. did so of their own accord. Most of them had lived in the U.S. for at least five years. For many, family reunification was the reason why they went back to Mexico. The others were deported by the U.S. government.
More than 16 million Mexicans have immigrated to the U.S. between 1970 and 2015. In 1970, the U.S. had fewer immigrants from Mexico. The number of immigrants from Mexico gradually increased and reached a peak at 12.8 million in 2007. Migrants from Mexico started to decline from 2007. Now the number of those leaving the U.S. is more than those coming here.
Mexico has been the top country of birth among undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Though the population of undocumented Mexican immigrants has fallen, Mexicans make up around half of the undocumented immigrant population of the U.S. However, immigration from China and India is now increasing. This shows that Mexico may not remain the top source of immigrants to the U.S. in future.