WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) ─ For the first time in decades, more Mexican immigrants are on their way out of the United States than coming in, a new report said Thursday.
According to the Pew Research Center, about a million Mexican-born immigrants left the United States to return to their homeland between 2009 and 2014 ─ while just 870,000 Mexican nationals left their country to emigrate north of their border.
The report is based on data provided by both governments, the researchers said.
The five-year period marks the first time since the 1970s that Mexican citizens leaving the United States outnumbered those entering, The New York Times reported.
The report says the difference is due largely to fewer Mexican nationals emigrating to the United States, rather than an increase in those leaving.
“We know that crossings are definitely down and we also know it is much more difficult and costly to cross now than it used to be,” Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, author of the report, said. “We think Mexican migration is definitely in a new phase, and it will not return to the levels it once had.”
The report notes that one reason the influx of Mexican residents to the United States has declined is because border security measures taken by the Obama administration have been effective.
The number of migrants caught crossing the border illegally fell last year to 230,000 ─ the lowest level since 1971.
Further, research shows that 11.7 million Mexican immigrants resided in the United States in 2014 ─ a drop from the peak of 12.8 million in 2007. Undocumented immigrants accounted for 5.6 million of that population last year, down from 6.9 million in 2007.
Though the research is based on government statistics, the report said it is difficult to determine exactly how many people are coming and going.
“There are no official counts of how many Mexican immigrants enter and leave the U.S. each year,” the report said.
One influential factor in the decline of Mexican citizens entering the country might be a residual effect from the financial crisis, the Pew Center said. Fewer jobs and less financial opportunity may have discouraged immigrants from arriving or motivated those already here to leave.
Regulating the flow of immigrants from Mexico has been a controversial topic in recent years, and remains a popular issue among the candidates running for president in 2016.
