A new study says the growth rate of the Mexican-born population in the United States has slowed since the middle of last year. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has details.
The Pew Hispanic Center study says the number of people born in Mexico living in the United States grew by about 8 percent in both 2005 and 2006.
The study says in the first few months of 2007 that growth dwindled by about half.
Jeff Passel is one of the report's authors. He says it doesn't address the reasons behind the slow down. Though, he says, a number of changes have occurred that may help explain it.
Passel : There's been a stepped up enforcement at the border that may have kept some Mexicans from trying to come to the U.S. And there's been a slowdown in some sectors of the economy that a lot of the Mexicans work in.
Remittances to Mexico increased by just $200 million in the first few months of 2007, compared to jumps of more than $600 million in previous years.
Detentions along the U.S. Mexico border dropped about 30 percent this March compared to last year.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
