With all of the efforts the Trump Administration is putting into attempting to build a literal wall to supposedly keep illegal immigrants from entering the country, many people believe that the biggest source of persons who do not have the right to be in the country legally is a very porous border. However, the data does not back this assumption up. According to National Public Radio, nearly 62% of persons who are undocumented in the US are the result of overstaying a legal visa.
There are many ways where reality does not match up with the rhetoric. In addition to the biggest source of illegal immigration being misrepresented, it is also true that the amount of illegal immigration in the US has been going down considerably for the past several years. For example, the undocumented population originating from Mexico in the US went down by nearly 400,000 people in 2017. Overall since 2010, the amount of undocumented immigrants from Mexico has decreased by over a million persons.
Essentially, illegal immigration is not the massive malady that many politicians like to insist that it is. Rather, Border Patrol is very effective and the borders of the country are comparatively secure. Again, over one-half of undocumented persons in the United States are in the United States due to having valid visas upon entry.
While it is vital that all visitors and residents in the United States stay on the right side of the law where immigration is concerned, it is also important to understand the reality of the issues surrounding immigration and not to give in to political hysteria.