We’ve been hearing for a while about how Arizona is now a hellhole because of all the illegal immigrants. Arizona politicians want to “build the danged fence” to keep all these lawless immigrants out. Little do they know that Republican policies already keep immigrants out.
A deep recession and tougher border enforcement have led to a sharp decline in the number of immigrants entering the United States illegally in the past five years, contributing to the first significant reversal in the growth of their numbers in two decades, according to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The number of illegal immigrants entering the United States plunged by almost two-thirds between 2005 and 2009, a dramatic shift after years of growth in the population, according to the report.
In the first half of the decade, an average of 850,000 people a year entered the United States without authorization, according to the report, released Wednesday. As the economy plunged into recession between 2007 and 2009, that number fell to 300,000.
The drop has contributed to an 8 percent decrease in the estimated number of illegal immigrants living in the United States, from a peak of 12 million in 2007 to 11.1 million in 2009, the report said.
So despite what the Republicans are saying crime has decreased in Arizona over the last decade and illegal immigration has decreased dramatically. The Obama administration has also enforced immigration law more than the Bush administration did, deporting 3x as many illegal immigrants as Bush.
However, being proved false won’t keep the GOP from repeating the zombie lies. They need a scapegoat to point away from their own bad ideas.