The dismal state of the economy is probably doing a better job of halting the flow of undocumented workers to the US than Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s threats.
According to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center, there has been a drop in the influx of unauthorized workers to the United States since 2007. The numbers plunged to 300,000 immigrants between 2007 and 2009, from about 850,000 a year between March 2000 and March 2005. That means that the number of undocumented immigrants in the US actually declined from 12 million in 2007 to about 11 million in 2009.
The biggest factor contributing to this fall was the dismal job market in the US. The recession has hit the construction industry and other sectors that are employment magnets for Hispanic laborers, especially hard. Hispanic immigrants already in the US are struggling with their own economic woes, and their tales of hardship have made it across the border to relatives and friends in Mexico and Latin America.
The numbers are likely to fall further in the months ahead. Hundreds of National Guardsmen have begun arriving in Arizona to step up enforcement at the borders. Besides, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has confirmed that the federal administration will double the number of drones flying surveillance over the southern border by January 1st. Undocumented workers will now find it harder and more expensive to cross the border, and hence, there is likely to be a further drop in those numbers.
The one thing that California immigration lawyers agree on is that it’s the economy that's impacting immigration, and not tighter border security measures. There's little demand for additional labor in the US, and the incentive for laborers to risk their life and limb by crossing the border without documentation, has been reduced considerably.
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