Appallingly Dishonest Pew Study on Immigration Trend from Mexico
If you want to know the depths of dishonesty and obfuscation the liberal elite employ in order to distort the reality on any given issue, take a look at this Pew research report on immigration from Mexico. Pew claims that migration from Mexico is down to such a point that there is net out-migration—that is to say more Mexicans in America have died or gone back home than returned.
As we reported several months ago, according to the most up-to-date census data, based on the Current Population Survey (CPS), there has been a massive spike in net migration from Mexico since 2014, precisely after Obama and the Gang of Eight began encouraging illegal immigration in a number of ways.
Media outlets, from The Hill and Politico to the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal , are breathlessly promoting the headline of this report as if it reflected the truth of the moment. Their broader message was: “See, the right wing nuts are going crazy about a border crisis when, in reality, there is zero net migration from Mexico.”
The one problem? Pew was using old data from 2009-2014.
There is nothing new about this. Pew has been reporting on a number of occasions that in light of the recession a number of illegal immigrants from Mexico returned home. But guess what? As we reported several months ago , according to the most up-to-date census data, based on the Current Population Survey (CPS), there has been a massive spike in net migration from Mexico since 2014, precisely after Obama and the Gang of Eight began encouraging illegal immigration in a number of ways. The fact that 80 percent of illegal immigrants are now officially shielded from deportation and most others are unlikely to ever encounter resistance has clearly contributed to the surge. Intelligence reports based on interviews of illegal aliens bear out the growing perception that our policies incentivize illegal immigration.
Yet, Pew was dishonest enough to report this data as if it reflects the current reality, even though the current trend portends a political dynamic completely the opposite of that which they are trying to implant in the media cycle.
In reality, this Pew report proves every premise of the border hawks. The fact that some illegal aliens returned home following the recession demonstrates how the false choice between amnesty and mass deportation is a straw-man argument. Mere passive economic disincentives from a recession were strong enough to entice illegal immigrants to repatriate. Imagine the effects of cutting off welfare and education benefits, jobs, and unqualified birthright citizenship? Every time disincentives were effectively rolled out, a number of illegal immigrants voluntarily returned home.
And that is what has been so tragic about Obama’s amnesty programs from 2012-2015 and Rubio’s amnesty bill in 2013. The allure of mass amnesty completely reversed the tide and has spawned one of the sharpest increases in net migration from Mexico in years. Incentives and disincentives matter in terms of immigration policy and border control.
Here are the numbers obfuscated by Pew and ignored by the media:
- From 2009-2014, net migration was -140,000. Because of the recession, roughly 140,000 more Mexican nationals left the country than migrated in from Mexico.
- Yet, from July 2014 through June 2015, the trend was completely reversed. There was a 740,000 net increase in Mexican migration . The population from Mexico grew 449,000 in just the first 6 months of 2015 alone!
- And this doesn’t factor in the massive influx from Central American countries. There has been a 460,000 net increase in immigration from Central America since July 2014.
For Pew to release an old study based on a trend that has been completely countermanded since the compilation of that data, knowing that the media will report it as reflecting the existing reality, is extremely dishonest.
You can read my full report from August here .
As I noted in my report, these numbers come from the most up-to-date BLS and Census data—the same numbers that are universally respected when touting health insurance and employment rates. What these numbers suggest is that President Obama has completely reversed the trend of out-migration by encouraging so many illegal aliens to return. Even the furthest deviation in the margin of error for this census data—the most unlikely scenario—would suggest a 340,000 net increase in just 12 months.
Pew Research does some good work and has a number of reputable researchers and demographers. But for Pew to release an old study based on a trend that has been completely countermanded since the compilation of that data, knowing that the media will report it as reflecting the existing reality, is extremely dishonest. Then again, everything about the open border cartel is based on lies, obfuscation, distortions, and deception.
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All I know is it is not nearly as hard today to find a good taco.
Oh I do love me a good Chalupa!
'Course, Pew is reporting 11.3M "illegal aliens" since 1993 and the actual number is 42.8M "illegal aliens" - all of whom need to go back to their country of origin.