Reverse migration: More Mexicans leaving US than arriving

A large number of Mexicans are leaving the US and returning home, suggests a new report. In comparison, the number of Mexicans entering the country has come down.

The report by Pew Research Center revealed a rise in the number of Mexicans, even those with US-born children, returning to Mexico. The analysis, published on 19 November, was based on a study Pew Research conducted by investigating government data as well as interviewing a representative sample of 1,000 randomly selected adults from across Mexico between 7 and 19 April 2015.

The report, citing newly available government data from both countries, said one million Mexicans and their families left the US for Mexico from 2009 to 2014. According to US census data, in the same period of time, an estimated 870,000 Mexicans crossed the border into the US.

"This is something that we've seen coming," Mark Hugo Lopez, Pew's director of Hispanic research said. "It's been almost 10 years that migration from Mexico has really slowed down."

Some of the major reasons for the reverse migration are the sluggish US economy, the desire to be with family, and tough border enforcement laws. Dowell Myers, a public policy professor at the University of Southern California, also points to the country's lack of jobs as the reason. "It's not like all of a sudden they decided they missed their mothers."

"The fact is, our recovery from the Great Recession has been miserable. It's been miserable for everyone," he added.

The Mexican government's Encuesta Nacional de la Dinámica Demográfica (ENADID) survey showed that 61% of returning migrants came back on their own accord while only 14% were deported, the report said.

Additionally, the US Census Bureau's data suggests that Mexicans no longer make up the largest number of immigrants. The top spot was taken by the Chinese in 2013. Border Patrol data has also confirmed that more non-Mexicans, especially those from Central America have been caught illegally crossing the border through South Texas in a bid to enter the US.

Recently, the immigrant issue has become a hot topic of discussion in the run-up to the US presidential elections. Republican candidate Donald Trump has used the issue of Mexican and other immigrants as his main rallying point, referring to them as 'rapists' and people who bring drugs and crime across the border.