Non-Mexicans outnumber Mexicans in border apprehensions

A new study by the Pew Research Center finds that for the first time on record, more non-Mexicans than Mexicans were apprehended at the U.S borders in 2014.

The study released last week shows that Border Patrol agents apprehended about 229,000 Mexicans in fiscal year 2014, compared with 257,000 non-Mexicans. The total number of apprehensions last year was 16 percent higher than it was in 2013.

SEE ALSO: Number of deaths at US-Mexico border has dropped

According to the study, which analyzed more than 60 years of Border Patrol data, the last time Mexican apprehensions were this low was in 1970. That year, an estimated 219,000 Mexicans were apprehended, compared with just 12,000 non-Mexicans.

“This shift is another sign that unauthorized immigrants from Mexico are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border significantly less often than they did before the Great Recession,” the authors of the study say.

So why were there more apprehensions of non-Mexicans than there were of Mexicans this year?

The study says this is due in part to the unprecedented number of Central American minors who were caught crossing the border without a parent or guardian earlier this year. It cites U.S. Customs and Border Protection data that show nearly 52,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in the 2014 fiscal year, more than double the numbers from 2013.

SEE ALSO: Jeh Johnson: Far fewer unaccompanied minors are crossing the border

The study also highlights that even though the numbers of Mexicans crossing the border have been declining since 2007, Mexico continues to be the top country of origin for the undocumented immigrant population here in the U.S. It is estimated that Mexicans make up 52 percent of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S.

As for the overall undocumented population, the Pew Research Center study finds that they “are staying put.” It notes that undocumented immigrants have been living here for an average of 13 years.

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