Drop in Illegal Immigration Numbers Inflames Activists

[madmom]

The population of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has fallen by 1 million in the past two years due to a combination of the recession and increased law enforcement, according to the latest estimate by the Department of Homeland Security. While activists largely agree that the influx of illegal immigrants is at a welcome ebb, some vehemently contest the accuracy of the agency's figures and remain bitterly divided on what impact they should have on the country's immigration policy going forward.

"I strongly disagree with the number of immigrants they say are living here," said Jim Gilchrist, president and founder of the Minuteman Project, a volunteer group of about 1,000 civilians who monitor the northern and southern borders of the continental U.S. for illegal crossings, which they then report to Border Patrol. "There's no credible way to way to tag and count them, and very few will admit to their illegal status, so it's all just a guesstimate at best."......

.......Still others, including Shuya Ohno, a spokesperson for the National Immigration Forum -- the self-described "leading immigrant advocacy organization in the country" -- accepted the Homeland Security estimate at face value.

"The DHS figures are the most accurate," Ohno said in an interview with AOL News. "Most rational and apolitical academics put the number between 10 (million)and 12million.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/drop-in-illegal-immigration-numbers-inflames-activists/19355942

[monmouth]

1. And many immigrants are going back from whence they came..The

US of A is not the Utopia they dreamed of. Jobs, the economy are all part of it.