09.06.2011
10.10.2012 replaced broken links
DHS 2010 U.S. Mexico Border Security Statistics and Policies
original article written by Net Advisor™
The U.S. Mexico Border has been a long-time hot topic. Public debate includes the danger of Mexico’s drug war spilling over to U.S. border cities to immigration issues, and the associated costs to U.S. tax payers.
A 2010 Report found that illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers $113 Billion per year (Source: FAIR.org PDF).
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its latest report last month (August 2011) covering 2010 statistical data mostly related to immigration-related issues, guest workers, visitors and tourists, and other topics.
Although the majority of border crossings have tended to be from our neighbor to the south, DHS also tracks known data of individuals found attempting to gain entry to the USA who are from counties that might surprise some of our readers. Here are some of the latest statistics:
Illegal Border Crossings:
- DHS apprehended 517,000 foreign nationals; 83% were natives of Mexico.
- ICE detained approximately 363,000 foreign nationals.
- Number of captures from countries other than Mexico, Latin America, South America, or western islands: 17,032
— Source: DHS Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2010 Report, Page 4; share report link.
Number of Deportable Aliens from Countries that may be of Special Interest:
- Afghanistan 50
- China, People’s Republic 1,970
- Egypt 164
- India 1,672
- Iran 104
- Iraq 94
- Kenya 488
- Kuwait 30
- Lebanon 110
- Libya 9
- Pakistan 384
- Saudi Arabia 126
- Syria 66
- Yemen 77
- Unknown country of origin 98
— Source: DHS Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2011 Report: Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2010, Page 92 of 110 pps, Table 34; share report link.
Enforcement Actions at Lowest Level Since 1972
The overall trend shows that U.S. border enforcement actions are down sharply. The number of deportable aliens hit its lowest level since 1972. Deportable aliens located refer to Border Patrol apprehensions and ICE administrative arrests.
In 1972 there were 505,949 deportable aliens. There were over one million deportable aliens in each year from 1990 to 2006. That number plunged 57% since 2006 to 516,992 deportable aliens in 2010. That is a drop of 72% from the year 2000 when there were 1,814,729 deportable aliens (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Page 91, Table 33). That number is still down 61% since 2005.
The number of Border Patrol apprehensions declined 61% from 1,189,000 in 2005 to 463,000 in 2010.
— Source: DHS Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2011 Report, Page 1; share report link
We could not officially account for why border enforcement actions are down. One could theorize that the U.S. economy had slowed (2007-2011), and thus with fewer jobs, there might be less transition to the U.S. But that argument could not hold up to explain the deportable alien decline since 1972.
U.S. Border Policy Could Explain Shift in Fewer Deportations
Another argument is that more left-leaning border states such as California and the Obama Administration have sought more open border policies, thus why enforce a border if you have open border polices?
“…an announcement by Janet Napolitano, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, that illegal aliens in deportation proceedings — whether border-crossers or visa overstays — who have yet to commit an additional crime, will be allowed to remain in the United States and obtain work permits.”
In California the Dream Act is likely to be passed at anytime by California’s new governor Jerry Brown (D).
“AB 131 would give qualified undocumented students access to state-funded financial aid like Cal Grants, as well as fee waivers from the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges for community college students. The money would come from the state’s general fund.”
— Source: UCLA, the Daily Bruin, 09-06-2011
State college education fees have soared 32%, and could double again (story link gone). Thus U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who would like to attend college but are not able because of the costs will see their state funds be available however to illegal immigrants.
While California is cutting education funding, raising tuition costs and legal student’s funds being diverted for illegal immigrant education, there is still plenty of money for big administration salaries.
“Incoming Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong will be the second-highest-paid executive employee in the Cal State University system… making $350,000 a year…
…Armstrong will also be reimbursed for travel and relocation expenses, including for the costs of selling his home in Michigan; a vehicle allowance of up to $1,000 per month; and health and other benefit provisions provided to CSU presidents. He’ll also get up to $5,000 a month in housing reimbursements until he moves into the president’s house on campus in May.”
— Source: California Faculty Association
The U.S. Southern Border still remains a problem. The following statistical data was not found in DHS’s recent annual report. Data Source: National Geographic Channel, Border Wars (Air date: 09-04-2011):
Smugglers Captured in 2010 at the U.S. – Mexico Border:
- 9,000 smugglers captured.
Drugs Seized in 2010 at the U.S. – Mexico Border:
- Quarter of a million pounds (102 tonnes, or about 113,398 kg) of cocaine.
- 9,000 pounds (4.08 tonnes or 4,082 kg) of methamphetamine.
- 3.6 Million pounds (1,633 tonnes or about 1,632,932 kg) of marijuana.
Number of People Killed Related to Mexico’s Drug War:
- 34,612 people have been killed since December 2006 related to Mexico’s drug war (Source: BBC News).
Money Seized in 2010 at the U.S. – Mexico Border:
- Cash Seized from Illicit Activities through US-Mexico Border: $147 Million.
- Estimated Cash Profits to Mexico’s drug cartels from U.S. Drug Trade: $19 to $29 Billion per year.
Travel:
- The world’s busiest border is the U.S. California-Mexico Border.
- Number of Vehicles Crossing from Mexico to California per day: 40,000 (That’s 14.6 million cars crossing into California, USA from Mexico just in 2010).
- Number of Freeway Lanes from Mexico to San Ysidro (San Diego, California, USA): 24
- Number of Freeway Lanes from San Ysidro (San Diego, California, USA) to Mexico: 6
The following is more statistical data from DHS’s 2010 Report.
Legal Entry:
- Number of Legal Admissions (I-94 Only) to USA in 2010: 46,471,516 (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Page 81, Table 30).
The number of legal admissions from Mexico has almost doubled from 2009 to 2010:
- Number of Legal Admissions (I-94 Only) to USA from Mexico in 2009: 6,601,059 (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Page 69, Table 26).
- Number of Legal Admissions (I-94 Only) to USA from Mexico in 2010: 12,917,788 (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Page 69, Table 26).
Guest Workers:
DHS issued temporary worker and family admissions in 2010 to 23,412 people, where DHS was not able to identity their Region and country of citizenship (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Page 87, Table 32).
As millions of domestic U.S. citizens and legal aliens are out of jobs and looking for work, DHS issued temporary worker and family admissions in 2010 which amounted to over 2.8 million non-legal individuals.
- Total temporary (I-94 Only) (Guest) workers and families (2010): 2,816,525 (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Page 84, Table 32).
The largest concentration of temporary workers came from Canada with 894,237, followed by Mexico with 516,647, then India: 305,530; Japan at 178,817 and the United Kingdom rounds up the top five with 129,042 temporary (Guest) workers and families last year (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Pages 84-87, Table 31).
Aliens Removed (from USA) Due to Criminal Status:
Number of Aliens Removed (from USA) in 2010 due to Criminal Status. This refers to persons removed (deported) who have a known criminal conviction: 168,532 (Number of those from Mexico: 154,275 (or 91.55%) (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Pages 102-104, Table 38).
Oddly Enough.
There were a couple of statistics that also stood out.
Unknown Gender:
- Non-Immigrant Admissions (I-94 Only): whose gender was not known: 1,105,850 (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Page 80, Table 29). TSA’s airport x-ray machines could solve this problem if there are any doubt to one’s gender.
I Don’t Know Where I am Going:
- Non-immigrant Admissions (I-94 Only): who came to the U.S. and had no known destination: 5,299,112 (Source: DHS 2011 Report, Page 81, Table 30). These are individuals who came to the USA, were granted Visa’s and nearly 5.3 million people had no idea where they were going once they got in the USA and DHS was OK with that answer?
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Data not specifically cited: Source: National Geographic Channel, Border Wars (Air date: 09-04-2011 – this video may not be available on line at time of posting).
original border image: Public domain, source: en.wikipedia.org. Modified image with DHS logo and text showing California-Mexico border by NetAdvisor.org
“Dream Act” image courtesy: calwatchdog.com
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