105,000 From Mexico Settle in U.S. Annually, Report Says

The Binational Study on Migration, co-sponsored by the American and Mexican governments, has found that the number of undocumented Mexican workers settling in the United States during the 1990s is about 105,000 a year, far fewer than some U.S. politicians have suggested, a published report says.

Several people, including California Gov. Pete Wilson and conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan, have suggested in the past that the number is closer to 1 million a year, the New York Times says in today’s editions.

The binational study said about 7 million Mexican-born people live in the United States. Almost 5 million of them are legal residents, and the other 2 million are “unauthorized residents.”

Migration is a source of contention between the two countries and was a major theme in the 1996 presidential campaign. Politicians have characterized illegal Mexican migrants as a threat, asserting that they take jobs from Americans and boost the welfare rolls.

A series of recent border crackdowns by the United States has caused the deaths of about 80 migrants this year, the newspaper said.

The study also said that Mexican migrants are not more likely than poor Americans to receive welfare benefits and that they send between $2 billion and $3 billion a year back to Mexico.