Mexicans entering the United States, United States immigration station, El Paso, Texas (Photo by Dorothea Lange, 1938).
Well, it isn’t completely solved, but the number of arrests at the border for illegal crossings is down to its lowest level since — wait for it! — 1972. In fact, undocumented aliens, Mexican and others, are so scarce today that the old-time swarms of fruit and vegetable pickers are hard to find, and many large-scale farmers are having trouble getting their crops to market.
What accounts for this stunning change?
Part of it comes from increases in deportations, improvements in prosperity within Mexico and the general, worldwide dwindling of demand for unskilled labor. One factor, however, outweighs all the others: In 1970, the average Mexican mother bore 6.8 children. Today the average family size is 2.
Marc Farnum Rendino says:
There is one other large factor:
So-called conservatives have made quite a mess of this country lately, so it’s not as attractive as it once was.
August 3, 2012, 5:45 amKen Houghton says:
I assume you mean the average family has two children, leading to an average family size ca. 4 (as against that ca. 8.8 in 1979).
The Penn World Tables show that Mexico’s GDP per capita in real terms went up 75% over that time–about 1.4% per year, on average.
Real growth and better lives.
(Hmmm. Luna is our dog; her most common name is “tic.” But I don’t believe the machine will take that as proof I’m sentinent.)
August 3, 2012, 7:57 ambaldguy says:
I was always perturbed at the pope for declaring that the world’s Catholics shalt not use birth control. Good to see common sense take over.
August 3, 2012, 6:04 pmdonn says:
Also, the economy(tanking since democrats took over the house, where spending starts, in 2006., and yes G. W. Bush should have vetoed more spending)(Oh,and the community re-investment act forcing banks to lend to previously unqualified buyers, thereby leading to the housing bubble) is not so good, so there is less incentive to come.
August 4, 2012, 2:57 pmRobert Nowall says:
Brilliant thing to pick out of the stats…what with Japan reportedly likely to be depopulated by the late 2000s, and Western Europe sustaining itself by encouraging immigration from the Middle East, the only thing sustaining the USA birthrate was this high birthrate…now the USA will follow the rest of Western Civilization down the rathole of massive social programs the population is *unable* to sustain…
August 5, 2012, 9:22 amGregory Benford says:
But there are plenty of countries still wishing to export populations…
August 5, 2012, 11:38 am