Illegal immigration down 28% nationally, And 21% in Arizona.

It is  now becoming more apparent that the hateful rhetoric recently espoused by anti-immigrants groups of “invasion” are all  claims. According to a new Pew study released on Wednesday, Illegal immigration to the U.S. has slowed sharply since 2007. The influx of illegal immigrants plunged to an estimated 300,000 annually between March 2007 and 2009, from 850,000 a year between March 2000 and March 2005. The decline contributed to a contraction in the overall size of the undocumented population to 11 million people in March 2009 from a peak of 12 million two years earlier, according to the Pew analysis, which is based on data from the Census Bureau.

Furthermore, the Pew study found that the flow of Mexicans, who represent 60% of all illegal immigrants in the U.S., plummeted to 150,000 annually during the 2007-2009 period, compared with the annual average of 500,000 during the first half of the decade.

Among other reasons, the study points out, is the increase on border security along the border with Mexico; Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Monday that the number of drones flying surveillance on the southern border would double by Jan. 1. The increased security has driven up the cost of border crossings, contributing to the drop in illegal entries.

Too, The mortgage crisis and ensuing economic slump have slashed jobs in construction, tourism and other sectors that are the mainstay for low-skilled Latin Americans. Immigrants already in the U.S. are struggling, and word of their hardship is dissuading those back home from flocking to the U.S. “People don’t want to come now; they know the economy is bad,” said Braulio Gonzalez from Guatemala, who has been scraping by as a day laborer outside Los Angeles. The decrease in the flow of illegal immigrants reported by Pew is supported by new studies from Wayne Cornelius, co-director of the migration research center at the University of California, San Diego.

Even in the state where illegal immigration has become such a toxic issue, illegal immigration has dropped considerably by 21% in the last 3 years. For example, The study by the Pew Hispanic Center puts Arizona’s undocumented population at 375,000 in March 2009, down 100,000, or 21 percent, in one year. Overall, though, the Pew study says the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States plummeted by two-thirds from 2007 to 2009, compared with the first five years of the decade, resulting in an 8 percent decrease in the number of undocumented immigrants living in the country. At the end of the study period, there were an estimated 11.1 million illegal immigrants in the United States, down from a peak of 12 million two years ago. “We’ve seen a reversal of what had been a long-term growth in the unauthorized-immigrant population,” Passel said.  Source

Others experts say the business cycle, not tighter border security, has played the biggest role in the drop in illegal entrants. “The intensity of U.S. border enforcement has continued to increase during the recession, but only gradually,” said Mr. Cornelius. “What has changed drastically is the demand for Mexican labor in the U.S. economy.”

“Because the return on their investment to gain access to the U.S. labor market now looks much less certain, many potential migrants are postponing journeys until the economy grows again,” said Mr. Cornelius. Illegal immigrants represented 5% of the U.S. labor force last year, according to Pew. States where the housing market has been hardest hit saw the steepest decreases in their undocumented population.

In 2009, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois and New Jersey were home to 59% of the undocumented immigrants in the country, compared with 66% in 2000. There has been no net growth in the undocumented population in California for five years, according to Pew. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to send him legislation to create a pathway to citizenship for many illegal immigrants, as well as to further secure borders. Congressional Democrats had talked about moving forward earlier this year, but there has been no movement and the matter is widely considered dead for now.

See Table state undocumented immigrants by state Here
Source:   WSJ

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