Community Corner

Report: Immigration Down in the U.S.

According to data from the Calif. Department of Finance, legal immigration in Santa Clara County experienced a decline between 2001 and 2010.

The number of immigrants coming to the United States has fallen. Nowhere has this been more visible then with the net zero growth of Mexican immigrants that took place from 2005 to 2010. According to a report of the Pew Hispanic Center, a total of 1.4 million Mexicans migrated to the United States, while another 1.4 million returned to Mexico, during those five years.

The story appears to remain the same, with immigration service professionals throughout the state reporting a sharp drop in clients during their 2011 fiscal year.

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“We don’t have the traffic that we use to have,” said Francisco Urrea, president of I.C.S Group Services, which provides immigration services in South Gate, a city seven miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. I.C.S saw a 35 percent drop in immigration clientele last year. “Immigration has decreased immensely.” 

Urrea estimates that half of his immigration services clients come from Mexico, and cites the weak economy as an important reason for the net zero growth.

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“Right now, it is very difficult to emigrate to the United States, and many of these obstacles are economic,” said Urrea, who added that undocumented immigrants were particularly vulnerable. “If the undocumented do not have jobs that can both sustain them and their families, they will return to Mexico.”

According to census data gathered by the California Department of Finance, between 1984 and 2010, legal immigration to Santa Clara County was at its highest in 2001. In that year, 28,712 people immigrated to the county. 

Since then, legal immigration numbers have dropped significantly. The last year with available data, 2010, counted 18,489 legal immigrants to the county.

Tougher laws and an increase in deportations of undocumented immigrants, which made up the majority of Mexican immigrants, are also considered an important reason for the drop in immigration.

Bob López, owner of The López Group, a law firm with a location in South Gate, had fewer immigration clients this past year, and cited law enforcement crack downs and fear as another reason for the decrease.

“There have been a lot of deportations and raids,” said López, who had approximately 65 percent less clients on immigration in 2011, across his three locations in Southern California, when compared to 2010. “These have scared a lot of people.”

The legal ways that can allow undocumented immigrants to become citizens are also getting smaller. Companies are not sponsoring undocumented immigrants with work visas, said López.

“The only way that you can stay in this country is through marriage,” concluded López, adding that visa requests for foreign spouses by American citizens are still in demand. “That is the only business I have right now.”

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