Immigration from Mexico down to "almost nothing"
A recent report found that the number of immigrants entering the United States from Mexico has fallen to “almost nothing”; Mexico only lost about 0.09 percent of its population due to migration between March 2010 and March 2011, 83 percent lower than in 2006
A recent report found that the number of immigrants entering the United States from Mexico has fallen to “almost nothing.”
According to the National Statistics Institute, Mexico’s government statistics branch, Mexico only lost about 0.09 percent of its population due to migration between March 2010 and March 2011. That rate is 83 percent lower than 2006 and 2007 during Mexico’s migration boom where the country saw a 0.53 percent outflow of its population.
“In the first quarter of 2011, there was practically no net loss of population due to international migration,” the institute said. “As a result, in relative terms the net migration balance was almost nothing.”
Raul Delgado, a professor at the Zacatecas Autonomous University, explained that the latest numbers stem from several factors including the economic recession in the United States and the increased difficulties in entering the United States, but not because of any increase in opportunities in Mexico.
“This (migration) is an escape valve that is being closed, and that makes it easier for people to fall into the hands of drug traffickers … who paradoxically are some of the only ones creating employment opportunities,” he said.
Delgado also believes that the ongoing battle against drug cartels and the violence are making the country more dangerous and therefore less attractive for migrants.
The 2010 national census revealed that migration in Mexico had fallen to about one-third of the peak of about 450,000 Mexicans leaving each year between 2000 and 2005. Furthermore, Mexico’s slowing population growth is believed to be a factor in its slowing migration levels.
