WCA November 2010

37 / 98

Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2010 35
The US steps up border security even as
illegal immigration falls off dramatically
A curiosity of the employment-centred national debate
over illegal immigrants in the United States is the drop in
their numbers by almost two-thirds over the past decade,
a dramatic shift after years of growth. According to a report
released 1st September by the Pew Hispanic Center, a
Washington-based “fact tank,” between 2000 and 2005
an average of 850,000 people a year entered the country
without authorisation. As the economy went into recession
between 2007 and 2009, that number fell to 300,000.
The sharp drop-off has contributed to an 8% decrease in
the estimated number of illegal immigrants living in the US,
from a peak of 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million in 2009,
the report said. Of the 11.1 million, 8.9 million came from
Mexico and elsewhere of Latin America.
The unemployment rate for unauthorised immigrants is
10.4% higher than that of either US-born residents or
legal immigrants, the Pew report said. Douglas Massey, a
Princeton University sociologist who studies migration, told
the Washington Post that the recession and lack of jobs are
major factors in the decline of illegal immigration.
Other likely reasons for the decline cited by Dr Massey
include an increase in law enforcement and deportations,
and enactment of stricter legislation against illegal
immigrants. He also pointed out the growth in guest-worker
spots for legal arrivals – from 104,000 in 2000 to 302,000 in
2009.
“Life’s gotten pretty miserable for immigrants in the United
States,” Dr Massey told the Post’s Tara Bahrampour,
noting that, even for legal immigrants, many of whom have
relatives who are unauthorised, the heightened scrutiny has
been stressful. (“Illegal Immigration to US Down Almost
67% Since 2000, Report Says,” 1st September)
Taken together, the trends in both legal and illegal
immigration have reduced the percentage of unauthorised
US residents from 31% of all immigrants in 2007 to
29% in 2009. According to Jeffrey S Passel, the senior
demographer at Pew and an author of the new report, this
represents the first statistically significant reversal in the
growth of the US population in 20 years.
As to a possible future reversal of this movement, Mr Passel
commented, “In the past the flows have moved in line with
the state of the US economy. But we have stepped up
enforcement [of the laws governing immigration]. Right now,
both are working in the same direction. If the economy turns
around and enforcement is increased, we don’t know.”
The number of illegal immigrants arrested by the US ❖ ❖
Border Patrol has plummeted by almost two-thirds in
just five years: a result, authorities say, of the double
deterrent of a weak US economy and tighter security
at the crossings from Mexico. But the cost of the effort
is bracing. The statistics that follow were supplied by
Dennis Wagner of the Arizona Republic (20th June).
Today, there are 22,800 US Border Patrol agents, five
times the number in 1993. About 17,000 agents work
along the Southwest corridor, double the number from