The United States saw huge growth in Mexican immigrants over the last year, a shift that the Center for Immigration Studies pins on relaxed border enforcement under President Obama and a steadier economy that is enticing more people to find work north of the border.
In a new report released early Thursday morning, CIS said the total Mexican immigration population in the United States stands at 12.1 million people as of this year, a jump from 11.4 million a year ago.
That’s the largest number on record and beats out the 11.8 million Mexicans present in the country back in 2008. The Great Recession dropped that number to about 11 million, but immigration from Mexico now appears to have rebounded.
The report said the surge from Mexico accounted for 44 percent of increase in the total immigrant population between 2014 and 2015. CIS said immigration from Mexico had fallen off for several years, but added that “something seems to have changed in the last 18 months.”
CIS suspects it’s a sign of more illegal immigration.
“The recent increase in the number of immigrants from Mexico is an indication that illegal immigration has begun growing again after declining from 2007 to 2009 and remaining roughly stable through 2013,” the report said.
“Given the significant cutbacks in enforcement in recent years, the permissive nature of the legal immigration system, and improvements in the economy, it is not surprising that the immigrant (legal and illegal) population has surged in the last four years,” it added.
The surge comes just as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been arguing that America needs to do something to stop Mexico from sending too many people across the border. Trump has said many of these immigrants are illegal and/or violent criminals, rapists or are bringing drugs across the border.
While many have criticized those comments, they helped propel Trump to the top of the GOP pack seeking the White House next year.
CIS said the growth from Mexico contributed to a record high number of legal and illegal immigrants in the country as of this year. That number is 42.1 million, or about 13 percent of the entire U.S. population.
