Flow of illegal immigrants slows, Pew Center finds
Flow of illegal immigrants slows, Pew Center finds
Story Highlights
•Illegals still arriving, but at lower rate, Pew Hispanic Center study says
•U.S. economy's ills, stricter immigration enforcement thought responsible
•30 percent of immigrant population is undocumented, researchers report
•Economic downturn hits non-citizen immigrants harder, separate study says
(CNN) -- The flow of undocumented immigrants into the United States has slowed in the past three years, a major think tank reported Thursday.
Illegal immigrants are processed in August at a U.S. Border Patrol station near Laredo, Texas.
The Pew Hispanic Center report cites no statistical reasons for the decreased rate. It notes the U.S. economy has suffered a downturn and greater immigration enforcement measures have been enacted, which a Pew survey "indicates has generated worry among many Hispanics."
According to the center's estimates, 11.9 million undocumented immigrants were living in the United States as of March. There were 11.1 million in 2005 and 8.4 million in 2000, the group said.
"Although the undocumented population has been rising, its net growth has slowed substantially since 2005, compared with earlier in the decade," the report states.
According to the report, from 2000 to early 2005, the unauthorized immigrant population grew by an annual net average of about 525,000. The growth pattern started changing substantially in 2005. From 2005 to 2008, annual growth has averaged 275,000 undocumented immigrants. See how the numbers stack up »
"With the drop in the numbers of illegals coming, we now have more legal immigrants coming than illegals coming," Jeffrey S. Passel, the study's lead researcher and author, said in an interview.
Unauthorized immigrants continue to make up 30 percent of the nation's foreign-born population of more than 39 million people, the study says.
Mexicans account for 58 percent of all illegal immigrants in the United States, the study says, adding that no other country has a double-digit share.
Pew estimates there were 7 million illegal Mexican immigrants living in the United States in March, up considerably from 4.8 million during the 2000 Census. Growth has leveled off since 2007.
The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States from Latin American countries other than Mexico grew from 1.8 million in 2000 to 2.6 million in 2008, a nearly 45 percent increase.
That population reached 3 million in March 2006, but has declined since then, the report said.
A previous Pew Hispanic Center showed that immigration from Mexico "varied substantially directly related to the employment situation in the United States," Passel said. That appears to be the case now, he added.
"This slowdown [in the U.S. economy], if anything, hits some sectors that undocuments [illegal immigrants] are involved in very hard -- construction, obviously, being a big one," he said. "The other side of it is that a lot of Latin American economies are holding their own or doing well."
Stricter law enforcement has not been confined to the U.S.-Mexico border, Passel said.
"The other big difference over the past couple of years is that we've seen greater enforcement in the interior, at the work sites," he said.
"Numerically, there may not have been a big impact in terms of the numbers of people arrested and deported, but it's been very high profile. There's strong communication between the United States and the home country, so word gets back."
Among the study's other findings:
• More than 40 percent of the nation's undocumented immigrants -- 5.3 million people -- have arrived since the decade began.
• About 80 percent of undocumented immigrants come from Latin American countries. In March 2008, 9.6 million people from Latin America were living illegally in the United States.
Another Pew Hispanic Center study released Thursday looks at the economy, saying the current economic slowdown "has taken a far greater toll on non-citizen immigrants than it has on the United States population as a whole."
According to an analysis of new Census Bureau data, the median annual income of non-citizen immigrant households fell 7.3 percent from 2006 to 2007. In contrast, the median annual income of all U.S. households increased 1.3 percent during the same period, the report says.
Immigrant heads of household who are not U.S. citizens are more vulnerable, the report says, because "most arrived in the U.S. in recent years with only a high school education or less. Many are employed in blue-collar production and construction occupations or lower-rung occupations in the service sector."
The majority (56 percent) of non-citizen households are Hispanic. And nearly half (45 percent) of non-citizen households are headed by undocumented immigrants.
The Pew Hispanic Center is a part of the Pew Research Center in Washington and is an independent research group that does not engage in advocacy or take positions on issues.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/02/pew.immigration/
Study finds fewer illegal immigrants entering U.S
Study finds fewer illegal immigrants entering U.S.
Victor Manuel Ramos | Sentinel Staff Writer
10:01 AM EDT, October 2, 2008
Fewer immigrants are entering the U.S. illegally, reversing a decade-old trend of spiked border crossings and people overstaying their visas, according to one of two studies released today.
The change in illegal immigration levels comes at a time when the downturn in the economy has impacted families, according to the second report issued by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C.
The latest estimate puts the nationwide population of "unauthorized immigrants" at approximately 12 million in 2008, about half a million less than when their numbers peaked last year.
Jeffrey Passel, a senior researcher with Pew, said other analyses have found connections between the flow of immigrants and the economy.
"We have seen an increase in unemployment and especially in the areas where unauthorized immigrants work," Passel said. "At the same time we have survey data that tells us that there is heightened concern in the Latino community of fears of being deported."
Stricter enforcement of immigration laws has led to record numbers of deportations this decade.
Among the Pew studies' findings:
Most undocumented immigrants come from Latin America. Mexicans account for 58 percent of the unauthorized population.
Immigrants who have not become U.S. citizens -- which includes both the undocumented as well as those in the country legally -- have seen a decline in median household income over the last year, earning about $1,400 less in 2007 than they did in 2005.
The combination of these factors, along with anti-immigrant sentiment, have made life much harder in immigrant communities, said Sister Ann Kendrick, an advocate with the Hope CommUnity Center in Apopka.
"People are suffering more. Part of it is economic suffering, but it is a suffering of their spirits also," Kendrick said. "The thought that you will get ahead if you come here and work hard and do the right thing seems lost for many of them."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nat ... 9379.story
Study: Illegal immigrant population stalls
Study: Illegal immigrant population stalls
By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY
The illegal immigrant population has stopped growing, according to a report out Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The number of illegal immigrants in the USA rose for much of the decade to a peak of 12.4 million last year, from 8.4 million in 2000, according to Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at the center, a non-partisan research organization. Passel's analysis of Census data shows there are 11.9 million illegal immigrants in the country this year.
Despite the overall growth, fewer illegal immigrants are now entering the country each year compared with earlier in the decade. "We've measured a significant slowdown," he says.
From 2000 to 2005, the report says, an average of 800,000 illegal immigrants entered the USA each year. Since then, an average of 500,000 have arrived annually.
"Each year seems to be less than the year before," he says. "If we look at the most recent one to two years, there's no indications of growth."
The number of illegal immigrants entering each year has dipped below the number of newly arrived legal permanent residents for the first time in a decade, Passel says.
The report doesn't address why population growth among illegal immigrants has stalled, but Passel and other immigration experts point to the country's faltering economy and tougher enforcement as likely explanations.
Immigration officials have stepped up their pursuit of illegal immigrants. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has made workplace raids and other employment-related action a priority and sometimes arrest hundreds of workers at a time, spokeswoman Kelly Nantel says.
Workplace raids not only catch illegal workers but also serve as a warning to people who are considering entering the country, she says. "Immigration enforcement is making a difference," Nantel says.
William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution, a centrist Washington think tank, cautions against giving too much credit to enforcement. He believes fewer illegal immigrants are coming because jobs are disappearing .
"Illegal immigrants follow the networks of their friends and families," he says. "They hear about jobs drying up and they decide this isn't the time to come."
Lisa Navarrete, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group, also believes enforcement is not the primary cause. "If we have a housing crisis, a lot of homes aren't getting built," she says. "You don't need people working in construction."
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... rant_N.htm
Report: Illegal Immigration Declines as Economy Falls
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,431762,00.html
WASHINGTON — Illegal immigration, which has sparked political and social turmoil in communities across the nation, is on the wane, according to an independent report released Thursday.
The number of illegal immigrants entering the United States has slowed significantly the past few years, falling below the number of those entering the country legally, according to the report by the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington think tank.
The report estimates there were 11.9 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. as of March. That would be a decline of 500,000 from the center's estimate a year ago. However, the change was not statistically significant because of the large margins of error.
The Pew study does not address why the decrease occurred, but other researchers cite the nation's struggling economy and stepped up enforcement of immigration laws.
"The decline in job prospects in construction, service and other low-skilled jobs are communicated through extended networks of would-be movers from Mexico and Latin America," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, another Washington think tank. "It also may propel more return migration."
Census data released last month showed that overall immigration slowed dramatically in 2007, though the Census Bureau does not distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.
Illegal immigrants are notoriously difficult to count. Many researchers, including the federal government, estimate there are about 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
That's a big increase from the start of the decade, when the Pew Hispanic Center estimated there were about 8.5 million.
From 2000 to 2004, about 800,000 illegal immigrants a year entered the U.S., the Pew report estimates. Since then, the average has dropped to about 500,000 a year.
A decade ago, the number of newly arrived illegal immigrants began to outnumber those legally entering the country, said the report, written by the Pew Hispanic Center's senior demographer, Jeffrey Passel, and senior writer, D'Vera Cohn.
"The reverse now appears to be true," the report said.
Illegal immigrants make up about 30 percent of all immigrants, according to the report. About four in five come from Latin America, with most coming from Mexico.
Congress has passed several measures designed to increase border enforcement, and the Bush administration has stepped up raids on businesses. Some local communities have also passed ordinances to address the issue.
Congress, however, has failed to pass a comprehensive package addressing illegal immigration, despite several attempts.
Illegal immigration has not been a big issue in this year's presidential election in part because both of the major parties' nominees, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, support comprehensive immigration packages that include increased enforcement and an eventual path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants.
