If Trum is as good at deal making as people think, with US weapons and the war machine backing the diplomacy, it is feasible to do so.

If Mexicans had a vote, they would vote for the US. They already are, with their feet.

There are quite a few factors leading to the recent decrease in Mexican illegal immigrants. One of the most important is obvious to everybody: the collapse of residential housing construction. If this ever rebounds to levels that accommodate the desires of people currently in their twenties and thirties, then there could be another wave of illegal immigration.

Another important cause of recent decreasing illegal immigration is, in fact, a statistical illusion. The Obama administration changed the method of counting illegal immigrants returned to Mexico. If an illegal was caught at the border and returned to Mexico, the Obama administration counted that as a deportation. Previous administrations did not. This change significantly affected apparent net immigration flows. In their report, Pew Research notes the increase in the number deported, but not the underlying cause. In my experience, Pew Research reports are usually more reliable and more objective than academic journal papers on similar topics, which are typically written by left-wing university faculty. Of course, I don’t always agree with Pew Research’s methodology, but this lapse is particularly unfortunate. I’m not ready to say that it’s due to political bias. Although there have been no retractions, some people from the Pew Research Center have informally admitted that the report probably underestimates the number of illegal immigrants. Their defense is that the report represented the best methods and data available at the time.

Whatever you decide about the problems with Pew Research Center’s methodology and conclusions, we shouldn’t forget what they wrote in the report’s introduction: “Mexican immigrants have been at the center of one of the largest mass migrations in modern history. Between 1965 and 2015 more than 16 million Mexican immigrants migrated to the United States — more than from any other country.” The American people never voted for this great migration and have often bitterly complained about it. It has changed the future of the country, and a very vocal minority wants that change. If we don’t want to lose the constitutional republic and the rule of law, then the majority needs to keep voting for changes in immigration policy and security.

Critical analysis of this Pew Research report, or of the academic literature doesn’t require a specialized knowledge. If you have access to a university library, and have some time and patience, then I’m sure that most readers of this blog could easily become well-informed on the subject.

“Frog Says:
January 28th, 2017 at 2:18 pm

Ignored, as is usual in any immigration discussion, is the fact that over 50 million Americans have been aborted since 1973. That created various deficiencies …”

You will probably see this in the news soon.

“Abstract

Epidemiological and genetic association studies show that genetics play an important role in the attainment of education. Here, we investigate the effect of this genetic component on the reproductive history of 109,120 Icelanders and the consequent impact on the gene pool over time. We show that an educational attainment polygenic score, POLYEDU, constructed from results of a recent study is associated with delayed reproduction (P < 10−100) and fewer children overall. The effect is stronger for women and remains highly significant after adjusting for educational attainment. Based on 129,808 Icelanders born between 1910 and 1990, we find that the average POLYEDU has been declining at a rate of ∼0.010 standard units per decade, which is substantial on an evolutionary timescale.

It was recently mentioned in Dieneke’s antho blog.

Rhetorical question from up north:

How is it that the world’s 4h largest producer of oil such a country? Why don’t they have better healthcare, a better standard of living, a better education system, a better country in general since they clearly should have all the oil wealth? Why with all that oil wealth are they exporting their progressives to the Canada?

Your question was better. 😉

True, we are not exactly at war with Mexico; but, it is equally true that they have been exporting their poverty and some other problems North for decades. decades!

And it is time to stop it. Since they won’t keep their people from illegally crossing the border into our country then we MUST stop their people from crossing into our country illegally.

Rhetorical question: How is it that the world’s 11th largest producer of oil (4th largest in the Americas) is such a poor country? Why don’t they have better healthcare, a better standard of living, a better education system (only 45% graduate high school), a better country in general since they clearly should have all the oil wealth? Why with all that oil wealth are they exporting their poverty to the USA?

(He’s a fan of the late Hugo Chavez.)

That’s right; more Mexicans have been leaving the United States than coming here.

If we damage the Mexican economy, as Trump has already done, and is threatening to do, I would expect that net flow to reverse.

(How good are the Pew numbers? You’d have to be a specialist to answer that question, but they’re the best I know of.)

It used to be that adolescents gained valuable work experience in low-paying jobs. I did. Currently many of those jobs that adolescents used to perform are now staffed by illegal aliens. Mowing lawns, washing dishes. One result is that many young people, not being humbled by experience in the work force, continue into adulthood, an entitled view more appropriate for childhood.

At least that is how the view is from Texas.
* * *
What I said supra — and I’m from Texas although not living there now.
Part of the problem is the cultural denigration of blue-collar work and the shunting of kids who would do very well in vocational schools into colleges where they fail outright or drift into the “Studies” departments which have neither vocational nor intellectual value.