During the same time frame, an estimated 870,000 Mexican immigrants left Mexico to come to the U.S. The increased cost and difficulty of crossing the border, coupled with the US economy’s slow recovery after the recession, are also driving numbers down.
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For the first time in 50 years, more Mexicans are returning to Mexico from the U.S. than the number coming to the country.
The new migration pattern “stands in very stark contrast to the rhetoric we’re hearing in the presidential primaries”, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a professor of political science at UC Riverside.
Mexico’s middle class is emerging strong and growing at a rapid rate, nearly 11 percent in the past decade. Between 1965 and 2015 more than 16 million Mexican immigrants migrated to the United States more than from any other country, according to the Pew Research Center. Deportations peaked at 315,000 in 2013, a result of changes in US policy that made deportations and possible criminal prosecution more likely.
Director of Pew’s Hispanic research, Mark Hugo Lopez, said the era of mass migration from Mexico is “at an end”.
The Great Recession definitely played a role, according to the report, though mostly early on in the 2009-2014 period, when more returnees cited not being able to find a job as a reason for going back. Only 14 percent surveyed said it was worse. “It’s been miserable for everyone”.
He says they expected to see refugees from Syria eventually.
Despite the drop in immigration, the USA has become increasingly diverse, with Latinos making up the country’s largest minority group.
Auto manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Ford and GM have built plants in central and northern Mexico, creating thousands of jobs.
Additionally, his administration focused enforcement on people who had been removed previously from the country and were caught trying to re-enter illegally.
Pew said many Mexicans surveyed during face-to-face interviews indicated that life wasn’t much better in the U.S. than in Mexico, and that many departed voluntarily, in many cases to be with their families. “I could help them while I was there, but family comes before money”.
The decline in the flow of Mexican immigrants to the U.S.is due to several reasons. Most believe Obama overstepped his authority when he announced his executive actions on immigration previous year.
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The fall in net migration from Mexico to the U.S.is also reflected in the dwindling number of Mexicans who say people with whom they are close are living north of the border.
