You may have noticed this story in the Wall St. Journal several days ago:

Tide Turns on Border Crossing

– Number of Immigrants Arriving From Mexico Now Equaled by Those Going Home Net migration from Mexico has plummeted to zero thanks to changing demographic and economic conditions on both sides of the border, a new study says, even as political battles over illegal immigration heat up and the issue heads to the U.S. Supreme Court. … “The net migration flow from Mexico to the United States has stopped and may have reversed,” says the report, which is based on an analysis of U.S. and Mexican government data by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center.

If you’re someone who has been concerned (and we’ll use that word to describe everything from “curious in a purely intellectual or macroeconomic way” to “positively barking and foaming at the mouth about the brown scourge”) by illegal immigrants flowing northward across the Rio, then this probably sounds like pretty damned good news. Not only have the Mexicans stopped invading our country, but some of the ones already here are leaving! Break out the Old Mil and have mama make up some ‘mater and mayonnaise on white bread sammiches – we’re having a party!

If you’re of a slightly more thoughtful bent, though, you’re reading this story and thinking hey, wait a dandelion-pickin’ minute. These folks all put their safety in the hands of unscrupulous (and occasionally sociopathic) coyotes to sneak into the US because the Mexican economy is a dumpster fire and we’re the land of opportunity. Even being at the very bottom of the food chain here beat the best they could hope for back home. But…now they’re leaving. What the heck?

Read the story closely. Yes, there have been a number of factors contributing to the repatriation trend. But at the core of it lies a basic fact that Americans should be uneasy about: the US is, for millions on the economic fringes, no longer worth the hassle. They think they can do as well or better back home. And they’re in a position to know, aren’t they?

That means something,doesn’t it?