September 1, 2010
By Elias Johnson
KPHO
PHOENIX -- For years, ranchers south of Tucson have been waiting for good news.
Many might think numbers released Wednesday from Pew Hispanic Center, indicating a substantial drop in the number of immigrants coming into the United States would be the silver lining… you would be wrong."Those guys that live on the border have a different perspective from what this Pew report portrays," Arizona Cattleman’s Association spokesman Patrick Bray said.
The study conducted from March of 2007 to March of 2009 showed the number of undocumented people in the U.S. went down almost 1 million.
The analysis also suggested that these changes are caused by the U.S. economic recession and increased border enforcement. It could also be due to the unemployment rate for illegal immigrants, which was 10.4% in March, 2009, higher than the average unemployment rate of U.S. citizens, according to the study.
Arizona Border patrol data from the Tucson sector, which is also the busiest in the country, showed apprehensions are down from 616,000 in 2000 to 241,000 in 2009.
"The Pew report talks about people that are coming here looking for a better life, (but) what is occurring on our southern border is criminal activity and it’s people focused on their livelihoods bringing across drugs," Bray said.
The Border Patrol also states assaults on agents are up from 281 last year to 348 this year and climbing. The U.S. attorney’s office in Arizona has also seen more violent offenders. Since 2008, the number of people prosecuted for crossing the border with drugs are up 91 percent.
"I think people should not be using the Pew report as something to say it’s getting better, because we have a completely different and unique situation on our Southern border," Bray said.
The Pew report’s stats now puts the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. around where it was in 2005.
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