Mexican emigration to US drops dramatically

The number of Mexicans emigrating to the US has fallen sharply in recent years, according to recent research.

Demographers from the University of New Hampshire and the University of Texas San Antonio say there was a peak in immigrants arriving from Mexico in 2003, and that it has dropped by more than 50 per cent since.

Some 819,000 people moved from Mexico to the US between 2008 and 2012, in comparison with 1.9 million between 2003 and 2007 - a 57 per cent decline - US census figures showed. However, the numbers include both legal and illegal immigration.

UTSA College of Public Policy dean Rogelio Saenz, the study’s lead author, explained that among the reason for the fall in numbers were fewer construction jobs in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 recession, as well as the Latin American country’s falling birth rate and expanding economy.

Saenz pointed out that the average woman in Mexico had around six or seven babies in the 60s and 70s, which created a youthful population with 35 per cent being under the age of 15, meaning many young people could not find work so sought it elsewhere. However, he explained that nowadays that is not the case, and Mexico dies not have the excess labour force it used to.

He went on to say that many Mexicans who emigrate to the US today were wealthier and came on special visa programmes which state they must create job-making investments. He said these people may be escaping crime and violence rather than looking for construction work, and were often better educated and speak English well.