Large Numbers Still Cross Mexican Border

More misinformation from the “mainstream” media:

But Trump’s claims of record levels of illegal immigration don’t match the facts. Multiple studies show rates of illegal immigration are declining. And federal statistics show the lowest number of border apprehensions in years. According to recent estimate by the Center for Migration Studies, the number of immigrants living in the country without authorization has fallen to the lowest level since 2004, thanks in part to a major buildup of border security started by President George W. Bush and continued by President Obama. . . .  The decrease among Mexicans has been particularly stark. . . .

Polls show a majority of Americans support a path to citizenship for the 10 to 11 million immigrants believed to be in the country without authorization. Mass deportations of the sort Trump has called for are not favored. – Donald Trump Says Illegal Immigration Is at a Record High. He’s Wrong, Katie Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 4/27/16

Fact Check: The level of illegal aliens crossing the Mexican border is not at a record level, but the idea that it is dwindling to a trickle is far from accurate. The reason is that the figures this article uses are not up to date. Mainly because our recession beginning in 2008, illegal immigration dropped sharply, and between 2009 and 2014 as many Mexicans left the U.S. as entered. The activities of the Obama administration which consistently undermined immigration law enforcement had little effect on this trend.

In 2014, with the economy improving, the trend began to change. Between that year and 2015, the net Mexican migration to the U.S.—according to the Current Population Survey—was 740,000, and 449,000 of this total came in the first six months of last year. The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) estimates that at least 150,000 of them were illegal entrants. In addition, a growing number of Central and South Americans have been crossing the border in recent years. CIS also estimates that the total number of foreigners illegally residing in the U.S. last year was 12.4 million.

Again, the numbers of illegal aliens currently arriving aren’t close to records set a decade ago, but they are significant. Undoubtedly one reason for this uptick, aside from the improved economy, has been the possibility of amnesty for illegal aliens in recent years, with the Senate’s passage of an amnesty bill in 2013 and President Obama unilateral amnesty decree in 2014, which is now under review by the Supreme Court.

Some maintain that Mexico in the near future will develop sufficiently so that its citizens will no longer feel the need to come to the United States. Some evidence suggests this, but other evidence shows a country which could come apart from the failure of its government to deal with the almost autonomous power of its drug lords. In anticipation the second possibility coming to pass, it would be wise for us to make sure our border is secure.

Finally, the Times is misleading when it claims that most Americans support amnesty. The polls cited only offer amnesty, or mass roundups of illegal aliens that the alternatives for respondents to choose. A third option is slowly but surely increasing enforcement so that most illegals will go home on their own, a process of self-deportation. When presented this option in a poll, most Americans supported it.

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