WaPo headline,

For first time since Depression, more Mexicans leave U.S. than enter

Nearly 1.4 million Mexicans moved from the United States to Mexico between 2005 and 2010, double the number who did so a decade earlier. The number of Mexicans who moved to the United States during that period fell to less than half of the 3 million who came between 1995 and 2000.

The Pew Hispanic Center‘s study focuses on Mexicans because,

Mexicans now comprise about 58% of the unauthorized immigrants living in the United States. They also account for 30% of all U.S. immigrants. The next largest country of origin for U.S. immigrants, China, accounts for just 5% of the nation’s stock of nearly 40 million immigrants.

The WaPo article mentions four reasons for the reverse migration:

tightened border controls,

a weak U.S. job and housing construction market,

a rise in deportations,

a decline in Mexican birthrates

Mickey Kaus adds another one,

I have a nagging feeling we’re missing something … maybe something that happened in “the last half of the decade” when Pew thinks the return flow started … say in the period between George W. Bush’s reelection in 2005 and 2007, when the population of illegal Mexican immigrants peaked and when … wait, it’s coming back to me now … Bush’s “comprehensive” amnesty was unexpectedly and decisively defeated. … Don’t you think the MSM and Pew should at least mention the possibility that many Mexicans and others came here with the expectation that they’d gain permanent legal residence, maybe citizenship, as part of the new amnesty they’d heard so much about. When those hopes were dashed, staying here became less appealing and going home more attractive. That would hardly be an irrational calculus. But it’s independent of greater or lesser “border enforcement.” The amnesty magnet was turned off.

Could be.

However, The U.S. Chamber’s Plan for Immigration Reform

Immigration Policy Priorities for 2012 is a most interesting outline on immigration proposals, particularly on the subject of skilled workers.

An even more important issue for the USA is the fact that border security is national security: the drug cartels, which may be working with Iran-sponsored terror groups, are a clear danger.

UPDATE,

The Mexicans aren’t the only ones leaving:

Last year, nearly 1,800 American expatriates renounced their citizenship.

Linked by Obi’s Sister. Thanks!



