Mexico & Nafta - October 2011 (ISSN 1741-444X)

Illegal migration: The number of illegal immigrants arrested at the US-Mexico border has fallen dramatically this year and could be at a 40-year low by the end of this fiscal year (30 September), according to figures released by the US border patrol. Officials say that at some sections of the border (El Paso, Yuma and San Diego, for example) 90% of potential immigrants are arrested, whilst in others, such as Tucson, the arrest rate is approximately 70%. This would indicate that the arrest rate provides a closer estimate of the total number of illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border than in previous years, when the percentage of arrests made was lower. Fewer Latin Americans are making the journey to the US border because of the economic crisis in the US. The number of illegal immigrants who die whilst trying to reach the US has not fallen, however, with 144 known deaths per 100,000 in 2011. This compares to 119 deaths in 2010 and 39 in 2004. A large number of immigrants die in the Arizona desert; particularly after the US erected high barriers along more accessible bits of the border.

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