Mexican Migration Plummets

Would-be migrants wary of paying smugglers' fees as jobs dry up
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 15, 2009 1:44 AM CDT
Mexican Migration Plummets
A woman and child cross the border from the US into Mexican territory in Ciudad Juarez. Legal and illegal immigration to the US from Mexico is down a quarter.   (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

The number of Mexicans heading to the US has plunged as the American job market continues to tank, the New York Times reports. Census data from the Mexican government shows that emigration—with the vast majority to America—was down 25% in the year ending August 2008, and there has been a sharp decrease in the number of arrests along the border. 

Mexicans are "not forgoing migration forever,” said the head of one research center. “They are hoping that the economy in the United States will improve." (More immigration stories.)

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