40% fewer Mexicans seeking US immigration
August 04 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
Fewer Mexicans move to the US
About one million Mexicans moved to the US in 2006, but that number has decreased to 636,000 just three years later.
However, the number of Mexicans leaving the country annually has remained relatively stable. About 433,000 Mexicans left the US between 2008 and 2009, while an estimated 479,000 returned in 2006.
Despite the decrease in US immigration numbers, the majority of Mexicans already living in the country are choosing to stay through the economic downturn.
Less work is available in agriculture and construction, industries which employ large numbers of Mexicans. But many immigrants realise that the economic problems are global and the situation is similar in Mexico, if not worse.
Columbia University professor and US immigration expert Rodolfo de la Garza said: “Things are worse in Mexico than they are here. The job you have here is better than what you have there. If you go back, what do you go back to?”
And while some lack the economic resources to return to Mexico, others simply feel content in the US. A day laborer in Georgia who declined to give his name said: “It's simple, we like living here in the United States.”
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