Unauthorized immigrants make for lurid headlines but the idea of illegal immigration spiraling out of control is at odds with the figures, according to Pew Research Center estimates. The study found the number of unauthorized immigrants in 2015 was lower than at the end of the recession. Numbers of Mexican arrivals are falling and they may not be the majority soon.
The Pew Center research found the unauthorized immigrant population of the United States was 11.1 million in 2014. It stabilized since the end of the Great Recession. The number of immigrants from Mexico declined. However, the researchers noted an increase in illegal immigration from some other countries.
The number of undocumented immigrants from Mexico has steadily declined since 2007. However, Mexicans still accounted for 52 percent of unlawful arrivals. Undocumented immigrants from Central America, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa increased between 2009 and 2014.
Mexican arrivals to the United States fall
The center says Mexicans may now no longer make up the majority of unauthorized immigrants in the United States. Researchers estimate arrivals from Mexico made up half of unauthorized immigrants in 2016. This would be the first time in a decade that Mexican immigrants did not account for a clear majority of the undocumented population. This is part of a longer-term trend. Their numbers fell in recent years. In 2015, there were 5.6 million unauthorized immigrants from Mexico in 2015 and 2016, a fall from 6.4 million in 2009.
The study said most U.S. states saw no significant change in the size of their unauthorized immigrant populations from 2009 to 2014. Falling numbers of Mexican immigrants were a key factor in seven states where the undocumented immigrant population fell.
The Pew Center stated there were 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States in 2015. That figure represented a small but statistically significant fall from the Center’s estimate of 11.3 million for 2009.
Unauthorized immigrants represented 3.4 percent of the total population of the United States in 2015. The number peaked in 2007 at 12.2 million, when the group made up 4 percent of the population of the United States.
Increased stability and economic improvements in Mexico are seen as factors related to the fall in people heading north. At the same time, poverty and gang violence rose in some Central American countries and we have seen a rise in unaccompanied children and young families arriving in the United States from countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
If you are an unauthorized immigrant, you are likely to be facing considerable pressures and may be concerned about possible deportation. Call our Austin cancellation of removal lawyers for help at (512) 399-2311.