Report: Immigration Keeps Pace With 1990s

WASHINGTON (AP) April 20, 2004 - Legal and illegal immigration surged ahead during the first 27 months of the new century, a private analysis of government data shows. Immigration experts, though, differ over the effect the slowing economy and fallout from the terrorist attacks has had on immigration the last two years.

More than 3.3 million immigrants entered the country between January 2000 and March 2002, and the nation's foreign-born population swelled to a record 33.1 million, says a report by the Center for Immigration Studies, a research group that supports limits on immigration.

The report's author, Steven Camarota, said the analysis of Census Bureau data showed no slowdown from the rapid pace of the 1990s. And, he said, it's unlikely the economy or the attacks will change things.

``Legal and illegal immigration are largely disconnected from economic conditions in the United States because life remains far better here than in most of the immigrant-sending countries,'' Camarota said.

But Claudia Smith, an immigrant advocate with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation in San Diego, said she believes the economy may have slowed migration.

``As long as people have to work, they keep coming,'' Smith said. ``If there is no work, it gets back to Mexico in real time and people adjust their plans accordingly.''

Smith and other immigrant advocates say tougher laws that started being imposed in the 1990s have forced undocumented immigrants to take greater risks to enter the country, such as crossing a desert or being smuggled in a boxcar.

The U.S. Border Patrol says apprehensions of undocumented immigrants have dropped to their lowest level in more than a decade, while rescues are up.

Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, cautioned against using the data as a barometer of any post-Sept. 11 immigration trends since the study stopped at March 2002, just six months after the terrorist attacks

However, he said major events normally have only a short-term effect on immigration. Afterward, ``the underlying trend reasserts itself -- trends tied to economic factors and family reunification.''

Camarota estimates there are 8 million to 9 million undocumented immigrants in the country, with roughly 1 million to 1.5 million entering during the first 27 months of this decade.

Of the immigrants who arrived since the beginning of 2000, about 1 million were from Mexico.

Some evidence points to small declines in the number of student and employment visas granted to immigrants from Middle Eastern countries since Sept. 11, in large part due to crackdowns after the attacks, said Jim Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute.

Other potential immigrants may be hesitant to come to the United States amid reports of increasing discrimination against Arab-Americans, Zogby said. The FBI said Monday that Muslims and people who are or appear to be of Middle Eastern descent were reported as victims of hate crimes more often last year than ever before.

About 88,000 people from Middle Eastern countries arrived during the period covered by Camarota's study.

The mission statement for Camarota's group calls for ``fewer immigrants but a warmer welcome for those admitted.'' According to Camarota, that could be accomplished by better policing the nation's borders and punishing employers who hire illegals, along with maintaining stricter guidelines over who gets visas.