Mexico: 'More migrate to US each year than die'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Mexico has lost more people to migration to the United States than death since 2000, according to a government report released Thursday. The report found that an average of 577,000 people migrated to the US each year between 2000-2005, compared to 495,000 deaths a year in the same period. In 2006, 559,000 migrated and there were 501,000 deaths. Immigration to the US has increased drastically since 1970, when 800,000 Mexicans lived north of the border. Today, there are some 11 million Mexicans living in the US, both legally and illegally, the report found. The report also found that 48 percent of Mexicans who traveled to the United States between 1993-1997 entered the country illegally. That percentage jumped to 68 percent between 1998-2001 and 78 percent from 2001-2005, mostly because of stricter security measures tied to the Sept. 11 attacks.