None for the Border

For the first time since the Great Depression, the net number of Mexicans immigrating to the U.S. has dropped to near zero. Essentially, the amount of Mexican people crossing into the U.S. equals the amount of people leaving the U.S. for Mexico. A number of factors are thought to contribute to this drop, including the fact that the economic and job situation in Mexico is improving while things continue to be a struggle in the U.S. Increased border enforcement, tough talk of electrified border fences and aggressive laws like those those passed in Arizona and Alabama also are thought to have played a role. This data may cast a new light on the state laws coming up for discussion in the Supreme Court and the sure-to-be-heated immigration debate in the upcoming election. With the number of illegal immigrants at historic lows, it may become harder for people to blame all the nation's ills on them.