Story about Mexican Migration Misleads

More Mexicans are now leaving the country than are coming into the country. While tougher enforcement has been a significant factor in the reversal, most of the departing Mexicans are leaving on their own, a Pew Research Report said Tuesday. Citing Mexican census figures, the report found that 1 million Mexicans and their families (including U.S.-born children) left the U.S. from Mexico between 2009 and 2014.

It said that U.S. Census data for the same period shows an estimated 870,000 Mexicans entered the U.S. Among the most common reasons Mexicans are saying adios to the USA are a slow economic recovery and the fact they miss their families back home, the study found. . . . Another factor that may be discouraging northern migration is tougher enforcement of immigration laws at the border and inside the U.S. . . . The Obama Administration has deported more Mexicans than any other president. – moneycnn.com 11/19/15

Fact Check: A problem with the Pew report, cited in this article, is how it defines Mexicans. Specifically, it maintains that 140,000 fewer Mexicans entered the U.S. than left between 2009 and 2014. Nevertheless, included in that number are “U.S.-born children” who number 100,000. Under current interpretation of our law, they are American citizens. So should Pew be counting them as Mexicans?

In any case, the Pew figures still show more leaving (40,000) than entering. This has led some to suggest that illegal immigration across the Mexican border is no longer a significant problem. But those who cite the Pew figures commonly don’t cite research showing a sharp rise in Mexican migration since 2014, causing a net increase of 740,000 Mexicans living north of the border. This could be the start of a new trend.

Meanwhile, the flow of non-Mexicans across the border continues. Since July of 2014, there has been a net increase of 460,000 Central Americans in the U.S. Illegal immigration is still very much of a problem, and a big reason is that the Obama Administration has substantially ceased to enforce immigration law—contrary to the claim of the money.cnn article.

Currently, the administration shields more than 80 percent of illegal aliens from deportation, even as it unconstitutionally tries to grant amnesty to five million of them. The claim that Obama has carried out more deportations than any other president is an endlessly repeated lie which refuses to die. Even his Department of Homeland Security admits that it isn’t true. In reality, deportations have gone down under Obama.

On another issue, one thing interesting about the Pew Report is that close to 800,000 Mexicans have gone home since 2009 on their own accord. If that many left with scant immigration law enforcement, undoubtedly a lot more would leave if enforcement were strict. This is a strong argument against the claim that we must grant amnesty to illegal aliens because we can never roundup and deport the 11 to 12 million who currently live here. The fact is we don’t have to. Many are inclined to go back on their own. If we give them encouragement they will do so, and over time the total residing in the U.S. will significantly decline.

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