Sunday, May 20, 2012

Net Immigration From Mexico Stops

Ironically, while border states pass tougher anti-illegal immigration laws such as the 2010 Arizona law which requires citizens to carry proof of their legality, immigration from Latin America, especially Mexico, is slowing dramatically. According to a recent Pew report, net migration from Mexico is now zero at most, and has been decreasing since 2005 or 2006. There is still debate over whether this data renders increased attention to immigration policy useless. Some, like Princeton University sociologist Margaret Tienda rue the fact that data does not seem to be as large a factor in policy-making as politics while others claim that the fall in immigration is temporary development in response to the temporary economic recession but immigration will pick up again as soon as more jobs are available. Should we be worrying about our immigration policy now, considering that immigration from the previously largest supplier of immigrants is at a standstill or should we be worrying that the US has lost its appeal?
 NPR article
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3 comments:

Rebecca Hu said...

I think that, based on the data they collect over the years, the government should learn to be more responsive to the current political and demographic processes that are occurring – especially in regards to the border. The swiftness and fluidity of governmental response is important both to the effective implementation of policy as well as building trust and respect by the people in the government as a whole. Oftentimes, policymaking is too much influenced by politics rather than by the economic or data-driven sides of a situation. Obviously, these trends in immigration show that illegal immigration is a controllable phenomenon, one that can be “control[led] by drying up the jobs magnet,” as stated by Federation for American Immigration Reform spokesman Bob Dane. Dane’s words again echo the need for policymaking to stick to the current and away from political influences. The natural reduction in the number of available jobs in the onset of the recession naturally attracts less illegal immigrants (and legal immigrants), for that matter, and although the appeal of the US is not necessarily lost, the dip in the economic cycle certainly contributes to that phenomenon. In addition, the hardened restrictions on immigration policy is not completely necessary at this point – it is not wholly responsive to the reality we see at hand, and it may be wiser for us to avert our attention to the situation we observe at the moment.

May 21, 2012 at 6:36 AM
Erik CAbeza said...

i believe that immigration has been slowing down because of the recession especially from the Latin American countries. Also another reason immigration is slowing down is because the border has been tightning down in the pass couple of years with new policies but in the near future we should be seeing a spike in immigration when the economy in the U.S. gets better.

May 22, 2012 at 9:34 PM
Carlos Cardenas said...

For years many policy makers have wanted to decrease the amount of illegal immigration flowing into the country. But now that it's been accomplished by other means, such as the economic recession, they are beginning to realize that the US indeed is losing its appeal. In my opinion, this isn't about trying to control immigration anymore, this information from the recent Pew report reveals the need to revitalize our economy. The American Dream from the point of view of an immigrant is all that is needed to motivate the thousands of people coming here illegally. But if employment is scarce, the motivation to come this country is lost. Overall, the government must find a probable solution to this economic recession because it has proven to be the top priority.

May 24, 2012 at 2:36 PM

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