Government Head Says Immigration Slowdown Caused by Economy
By admin at 12 February, 2009, 11:27 am
New Department of Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano says the ongoing decline of the nation’s economy has caused a decrease in the amount of illegal immigration coming from Mexico.
Although the former Arizona governor says there has been a “pretty significant decrease” in illegal immigrants because of a lack of jobs in the U.S. she warns that an upswing in the economy is likely to reverse the United States illegal immigration trend.
“You can reasonably anticipate that when our economy comes back - and it will - it could be accompanied by another wave of illegal immigration,” Napolitano told Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, according to Fox News.
Napolitano said she would like to see the intelligence-gathering of her department increase rather than just fencing off the country.
“You can’t just put a dome over the United States and keep bad people or bad things out, so you’ve got to have the ability to have some intelligence,” the news provider reports her saying.
A report last year from the Pew Hispanic Center found that the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States has decreased since 2007 and cites the economic slowdown as a possible source of the drop.
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