According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the number of illegal migrants in the United States has reduced to 11.1 million from the initial 12 million which was recorded in 2009. It has also been reported that those crossing the borders illegally have also reduced by almost two-thirds. Initially, in the beginning of the decade, it was about 850,000 people were coming to the nation illegally which has now come down to 300,000.
With the nation’s economy still emerging from the economic crisis, this sudden fall in illegal migration could be easily explained. With the slow growth in economy, the number of employment opportunities has also reduced.
At the same time, it can also be said that this gives an easy escape for the politicians to blame it in immigration. This is especially when the rate of unemployment is as high as ten percent. More so, illegal migration can be considered as an easy target to put all the blame on.
Another important factor for this sudden reduction has been the increased enforcement which has tapped illegal migration. According to the Department of Homeland Security, about 393,000 foreigners have been deported from the nation in 2009. This is seventh highest consecutive record. This number is much higher than the estimation made by the Pew Hispanic Centre. This clearly proves that the enforcements are bringing out the necessary results.
Another important aspect here is that in 2009, apprehensions pertaining to Border Patrol have gone down by 23%. This clearly projects that less number of migrants are successful in crossing the border. With this, it has been reported by DHS that about 580,000 foreigners have been deported without any orders for removal.
As per Pew, the state of Utah is one of the states where the reduction of illegal migrants has been observed since the global economic downturn started in 2007. Other such states include Colorado, Nevada and Arizona.
Above all, it can now be said that the number of illegal migrants are slowly decreasing. This is definitely a start which would soon bring about a change and how immigration is perceived in the nation.
