Editorial: Immigration enforcement is yielding results. Now what?
Published 12 August 2011 05:02 PM

Published 12 August 2011 05:02 PM
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For almost two decades, the number of illegal immigrants grew at an astonishing rate, from 3.5 million in 1990 to 12 million in 2007. If it were a line at a turnstile, some 41,600 would have gone through every month for 17 years.

The trend reversed beginning mid-decade. The latest estimate by the Pew Hispanic Center puts the figure at 11.1 million. Even if the decline has stabilized, what appears beyond challenge is that there are now fewer illegal immigrants in the U.S.

What produced this? Migration scholars talk about “push and pull,â€