Mexico to America

A third of all immigrants now living in the U.S. are from Mexico; their number — 12.7 million — is very large from Mexico’s perspective, too. In fact, about one out of every 10 people born in Mexico (11%) is currently living in the U.S. The population transfer has occurred rapidly. In 1970, 760,000 Mexican immigrants lived in the U.S., only 1.4% of Mexico’s population. By 1980, the Mexican immigrant population exceeded 2 million, and the number increased exponentially in the following two decades. Mexicans also make up the largest number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. (7.0 million, or 59% of all unauthorized immigrants) as well. Read More