Illegal immigration from Mexico drops

TECATE, Mexico – Mexican shelters, usually the last stop for northbound migrants, are filling with southbound deportees. Fewer migrants are crossing in the wind-swept deserts along an increasingly fortified border. Far to the north, fields are empty at harvest time as workplace raids become more common.

Mexicans are increasingly giving up on the American dream and staying home, and the federal crackdown on undocumented workers announced Friday should discourage even potential migrants from taking the risks as the United States purges itself of its illegal population.

U.S. border agents detained 55,545 illegal migrants jumping over border walls, walking through the desert and swimming across the Rio Grande River between October and June. That’s down 38 percent for the entire border compared to the same period a year before.

U.S. and Mexican officials say increased border security, including 6,000 National Guard troops, remote surveillance technology and drone planes, have thwarted smugglers who had succeeded for years at beating the system.

The biggest drop in Border Patrol detentions – a 68 percent decrease – was in the remote, heat-seared desert surrounding Yuma, Ariz., once popular with smugglers. Border Patrol spokesman Jeremy Chappell credits the additional troops and tougher security.

“Where an alien before was able to sneak across, now he has the National Guard watching him,” Chappell said.

The only area that has seen an increase – 1.5 percent – is the San Diego sector, which runs along the California border and includes the harsh, roadless desert surrounding Tecate. The Border Patrol has responded with helicopters and increased intelligence from detained migrants.

The new measures announced Friday will force employers to fire anyone who cannot prove their Social Security numbers are legitimate.

Many employers join President Bush in blaming Congress for stalling an accord that would allow more people to work legally.

“Pretty shortly people are going to be knocking on people’s doors saying ‘Man we’re running out of workers,’” Bush said.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon also lashed out Thursday. “The U.S. Congress, which today turns its back on reality, knows full well that the American economy could not move forward without the labor of Mexicans,” he said.