The sluggish U.S. economy and resulting joblessness is driving more Mexicans to return home than come to America, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
“From 2009 to 2014, 1 million Mexicans and their families (including U.S.-born children) left the U.S. for Mexico, according to data from the 2014 Mexican National Survey of Demographic Dynamics (ENADID). U.S. census data for the same period show an estimated 870,000 Mexican nationals left Mexico to come to the U.S., a smaller number than the flow of families from the U.S. to Mexico,” said Pew’s Hispanic Trends survey.
While the data isn’t exact, in part because illegals can’t be accurately counted, Pew said that the economy, stricter immigration rules, and family reunification are driving the reverse migration.
“The decline in the flow of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. is due to several reasons. The slow recovery of the U.S. economy after the Great Recession may have made the U.S. less attractive to potential Mexican migrants and may have pushed out some Mexican immigrants as the U.S. job market deteriorated.
“In addition, stricter enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, particularly at the U.S.-Mexico border, may have contributed to the reduction of Mexican immigrants coming to the U.S. in recent years,” said the analysis.
But the U.S. is still an attractive destination.
“Asked about their willingness to migrate to the U.S., 35 percent say they would move to the U.S. if they had the opportunity and means to do so, including 20 percent of adults in Mexico who would do so without authorization,” said the analysis.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
