Pew report shows wave of Mexican immigration has come to a standstill

Between the years of 1995 and 2000 millions of Mexicans came into the U.S. illegally without the necessary documents that can be obtained by an immigration attorney, causing the largest wave of immigrants from a single country in four decades.  But a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that immigration from Mexico has come to a halt.

“The largest wave of immigration in history from a single country into the United States has come to a standstill,” the report says.

The Pew Center analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Mexican census to concluded 1.4 million people migrated to the U.S. between 2005 and 2010, only half of the number of Mexican immigrants who entered the country between 1995 and 2000.

While illegal immigrants, who did not solicit the aid of an immigration lawyer for legal residency, still outnumber legally recognized immigrants, this indicates a shift in immigration from Mexico. In fact, many Mexicans are returning to their native country.

Jeffery Passel, a senior demographer for the Pew Center said, “We’re fairly confident that by the end of the period we were seeing more people moving Mexico than leaving.”

The study attributes the change in immigration to the U.S. economic downturn, decreased birthrates in Mexico, along with increased enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mexican citizens crossed the border and entered the country in hopes of having a better life. Tough immigration laws have made it hard for these individuals to live and work in the country without getting visas or citizenship through an immigration attorney.