Posted on 09/27/2005 8:03:05 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
| 9/27/2005, 7:22 a.m. PT By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER The Associated Press |
WASHINGTON (AP) — The pace of illegal immigration to the United States has increased despite tighter security measures and it generally parallels the pace of economic growth and the availability of jobs, a report said Tuesday.
The report by the Pew Hispanic Center also found that the stronger security steps since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 have had the effect of reducing legal immigration.
Overall, immigration to the United States declined along with the economy after 2000, but the report says the number of people trying to get into the country is on the upswing again.
Immigration — both legal and illegal — topped 1.5 million people in 1999 and 2000, according to the report. The number of people entering the United States then plummeted to 1.1 million people by 2003, the same level it was at in 1992.
Immigration levels bounced back to 1.2 million in 2004, but the report cautioned that it is difficult to predict whether the recent upswing is part of a new trend.
"The extremely high (immigration) flows at the end of the past decade were not the norm, nor part of a long-term trend, but rather the peak of a momentary increase that lasted for only a few years," said the report, authored by demographer Jeffrey Passal and Roberto Suro, a former journalist who heads the Pew Hispanic Center. "Thus, even as the United States consistently experiences historically high rates of migration, flows are subject to considerable variation."
The report documents immigration levels from 1992 to 2004, generating estimates from a variety of Census data. The report acknowledges weaknesses in the data, especially when it comes to estimating annual changes in the number of illegal immigrants trying to enter the country.
The Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Immigration levels closely mirror economic conditions in the United States — as the economy improves, immigration increases — suggesting that the lure of jobs is a strong factor in attracting people to this country, the report says. The U.S. economy appears to be a stronger factor than economic conditions in the countries sending immigrants here, the report says.
Among the reports findings:
_Since 2001, the number of legal permanent residents entering the United States has declined from 578,000 to 455,000, while the number of illegal immigrants has increased from 549,000 to 562,000. Legal, temporary residents account for the remainder of people entering the country.
Declines in legal immigration "appear to reflect processing backlogs, security delays and other developments that followed the Sept. 11 attacks," the report says.
_Mexico accounted for about a third of all U.S. immigrants, a percentage that was steady from 1992 to 2004.
_More immigrants are shunning states with large immigrant communities, such as New York and California, and moving to states with smaller foreign-born populations, such as North Carolina and Iowa.
"Just to mention... as far as the "rebuilding effort" goes... the people down on the Gulf Coast have endured two ravaging storms and are about to endure a massive wave of illegal alien immigration funded by our tax dollars."
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What happened to the nearly 200,000 Hispanics living in and around New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit last month? I asked the question of one reporter who had called me to comment on the role race played in the evacuation fiasco, but she didn't know. In fact, at the height of the crisis, few in the media seemed the slightest bit curious about this population, despite hundreds of stories about poverty, race, and the failure of government to rescue the most vulnerable.
ping
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
I fear it will not get fixed until a terrorist attack occurs and they find out that the terrorists snuck across the border from Mexico.
Bush is so wrong on this issue it is not funny.
The pace of illegal immigration to the United States has increased despite tighter security measures and it generally parallels the pace of economic growth and the availability of jobs, a report said Tuesday.
Bush would be finished if that happened. I would expect calls for impeachment.
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Don't be ridiculous... of course we don't.
Forgot the ...:-)
I'd bet this is what the Republican Congress said too.
Doesn't the Pew Hispanic Center have an agenda? They are trying to make it look like there is really no problem.
These numbers are off by a factor between 10 and 20.
Report: Sun Came up Yesterday then went down.
But, but, but .... we are at WAR! This is not possible. No nation at "WAR!" would allow it's borders to be compromised so easily.
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