The Changing Face Of Undocumented Immigration

The face of undocumented immigration to the United States has changed significantly over the past decade. For the first time in half a century, less than half of all undocumented immigrants in the country are from Mexico. In contrast, growing numbers are coming from Central America and Asia Understanding these shifts is key to building a modern immigration system that considers who is arriving, how they are arriving, and from where. 

 

The Pew Research Center estimates that the number of undocumented immigrants fell from an all-time high of 12.2 million in 2007 to 10.5 million as of 2017. One of the major explanations for this decline: more Mexican immigrants are leaving the United States each year than the number of those arriving. In fact, the number of undocumented Mexicans in the country fell from 6.9 million in 2007 to 4.9 million in 2017. 

It isn’t just the interior of the country, either. Far fewer Mexican nationals were apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border compared to people from other countries in the last three fiscal years, data shows. Those who were not Mexican primarily came from the Northern Triangle of Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In contrast to many Mexican migrants, who historically came here looking for work, the bulk of newer Central American arrivals are asylum-seekers fleeing gang violence and high crime rates in their home countries. 

But as the number of new arrivals declines, more of those in the United States tend to be long-term residents. A full 66 percent of undocumented adults had lived here for more than ten years as of 2017, while only 20 percent had lived here for five years or less. 

It’s important to keep in mind that, since 2010, most new arrivals have not been crossing the border illegally. Rather, more are over-staying the departure dates of valid visas they used to legally come to the United States. Many of the immigrants also captured in Pew’s count have temporary permission to stay in the United States but could quickly find themselves deportable. This includes those with Temporary Protected Status and Dreamers, as well as asylum claims that are awaiting a ruling. 

The flip side to the declining number of undocumented immigrants is that the lawful immigrant population is growing: naturalized citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs), and people on temporary visas. Since 2007, that number has increased by nearly a quarter (to 35.2 million). Pew estimates that, all in all, undocumented immigrants comprised 23 percent of the foreign-born population in 2017. Roughly 45 percent were naturalized citizens, 27 percent LPRs, and 5 percent temporary residents. 

As Pew’s analysis reveals, undocumented flows are declining, more people are coming from Central America and Asia, and more arrive on valid visas. This suggests that our traditional notions of what undocumented migration is—and how it should be dealt with—may need to be revised.

 

Source: www.immigrationimpact.com  

https://www.inmigracionyvisas.com/a4259-Changing-Face-Of-Undocumented-Immigration.html

Number Of Undocumented Immigrants In US At A 25-Year Low

Written by Walter Ewing

Contrary to President Trump’s claim that “large-scale unlawful migration” across the southern border constitutes a “national emergency” that requires building a wall, research suggests that undocumented immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border is actually the lowest it’s ever been in the past 25 years. The Center for Migration Studies (CMS) has issued a report with this conclusion, which reinforces the findings of a similar report released by the Pew Research Center in November 2018. 

According to CMS, the total number of undocumented immigrants in the United States has decreased by one million since 2010 and now stands at about 10.7 million. At the same time, apprehensions at the border have dropped dramatically, falling from 1.6 million in 2000 to about 300,000 in 2017—a decline of more than 80 percent. These numbers would not seem to signal an “emergency” at the border. 

CMS also reports that from 2010 to 2016, about two thirds of new undocumented immigrants became undocumented by overstaying temporary visas, while only one third entered across the southern border without authorization. A wall is clearly not going to have an impact on visa overstays. 

According to the report, the undocumented population is shrinking mostly because there are more undocumented immigrants leaving the country than coming. Undocumented arrivals fell from 1.4 million in 2000 to about 550,000 in 2007 and have continued near that level. But the number of undocumented immigrants who left the country—either of their own volition or because they were deported—kept increasing and grew from 370,000 in 2000 to 770,000 in 2016. 

This is occurring despite the fact that the U.S. labor market is in reasonably good shape, meaning that the economic “pull” factors which have traditionally drawn undocumented immigrants to the United States are not exerting nearly as much force as they once did. CMS points to heightened immigration enforcement in the United States and improved economic conditions in Mexico as likely causes of this new pattern. 

CMS points out that the official statistics they use to estimate new undocumented arrivals are likely inflated to some degree by the erroneous inclusion of Central American asylum seekers. Asylum seekers are exercising a right recognized under international and domestic law to request safe haven in another country—meaning that they are not undocumented immigrants. But in official statistics, asylum seekers and the undocumented are frequently conflated with each other. 

The declaration of a “national emergency” at our southern border may be politically expedient for the Trump administration, but it has no basis in fact. Migratory pressures along the border are at all-time lows. 

Nevertheless, the situation of asylum seekers who are being stymied by the Trump administration in their quest to seek protection in the United States is a serious problem that must be addressed. But it is a problem that a wall is not going to fix.

Source: http://immigrationimpact.com/

http://www.inmigracionyvisas.com/a4039-number-of-undocumented-immigrants-in-United-States-decreases.html