This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Pew Hispanic Center reported the other day that the estimated number of illegal aliens in the United States has declined from 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million in 2009. The number of people coming into the country illegally every year also has shrunk by about two-thirds. About 850,000 were arriving every year early in this decade, compared to about 300,000 now. It is ironic, then, that the political fervor in Utah to stem the tide of illegal immigration has peaked just as that tide is ebbing.
The weak economy probably explains both the fall in unauthorized immigration and the rise in political fervor. Because there are fewer jobs available, there are fewer undocumented Mexican immigrants coming to the United States in search of them. Because unemployment is high — about 10 percent nationally, about 7 percent in Utah — political operatives are looking for scapegoats, and illegal immigrants are an easy target.
Increased enforcement also is discouraging illegal immigration. The Department of Homeland Security reports that it removed 393,000 foreign nationals from the United States in 2009, the seventh consecutive record high. That number is considerably larger than Pew's estimate of the number of people coming into the country illegally, which suggests that immigration enforcement is becoming more effective than the popular stereotype of a porous U.S. border might suggest.
Interestingly, Border Patrol apprehensions decreased by 23 percent in 2009, suggesting that fewer Mexicans and other foreign nationals are trying to the enter the United States illegally. DHS reported that 580,000 foreign nationals were returned to their home countries without a removal order.
Pew concludes that Utah is among the Mountain States in which the population of illegal aliens has fallen since the economic recession began in 2007. Neighboring states in the same boat include Nevada, Arizona and Colorado.
The Pew study places the estimated number of unauthorized immigrants in Utah in 2009 at 110,000. That would account for 3.9 percent of the state's population and 4.9 percent of its work force. Pew places the number in the unauthorized labor force at 70,000. All of the figures are based on U.S. census data.
The bottom line is that, for whatever reasons, the flow of illegal aliens is decreasing. That must be counted as good news by those who argue that illegal immigration depresses U.S. wages and places a disproportionate burden on social services and health insurance. A record number of removals of foreign nationals indicates that increased enforcement also is working. In short, the situation is improving.