The PEW Research Center reported that the number of border patrol apprehensions in 2014 was the lowest it had been since the mid-1970s.
According to the report, which was based on Immigration and Naturalization Service statistical yearbooks, the number of non-Mexican immigrant apprehensions exceeded the number of Mexican immigrant apprehensions for the first time, with 257,473 non-Mexican immigrants apprehended compared to 229,178 Mexican immigrants apprehended.
The U.S. Border Patrol reported that the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended in fiscal year 2014 was 66,115. Fiscal year 2015 saw a decline of about half, with 35,485 unaccompanied minor apprehensions.
However, the agency reported 54,052 unaccompanied minors in fiscal year 2016, about 17,000 from Guatemala, about 16,000 from El Salvador, about 11,000 from Mexico and just about 9,000 from Honduras.
In fiscal year 2015, the Border Patrol apprehended 188,122 Mexican immigrants, according to the PEW Research Center.
2016 saw the highest number of Muslim refugees admitted into the United States at 38,901.
Of those admitted, 49% came from either the Democratic Republic of Congo (16,370), Syria (12,587) and Burma (12,347).
According to a Cronkite News/Univision News/Dallas Morning News poll released in July 2016, the majority of the respondents living along both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border said the U.S. “should definitely not” build a wall along the border.
On the U.S. side of the border, 72 percent of respondents overall were opposed to building a wall, while 23 percent of respondents said the U.S. either “should definitely” or “should maybe” build a wall.
However, the poll showed that “In Mexico, 68 percent of respondents placed crime and security concerns in their top three most important issues”.
The poll also showed that the top two concerns among respondents on both sides of the border were the economy and crime/drugs.
An Arizona Republic/Morrison Institute/Cronkite News poll conducted in October showed that Arizona respondents throughout the state may have different feelings.
According to the poll, about 34 percent of respondents said the U.S. either “should definitely” or “should maybe” build a wall and about 55 percent said the U.S. either “should definitely not” or “should maybe not” build a wall.
The poll also showed that 39 percent of respondents said they were planning to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, 33.9 percent for Republican nominee Donald Trump and 20.7 percent said they were undecided.
The Arizona Secretary of State office reported a total of 3,400,628 registered voters during the July 2016 primary election.
However, just under one million votes were cast, yielding a voter turnout of 29.1%.
The office also reports that there are currently 3,588,466 registered voters in the state, with about 1.1 million registered Democrat, 1.24 million registered Republican and 1.22 million registered Other.
According to the PEW Research Center, Arizona has a total population of about 6.7 million. Of those, about 2 million are Hispanic.
Furthermore, about 4.6 million Arizonans are eligible to vote, leaving about 1.1 million unregistered. Of those eligible, about 992,000 are Hispanic.
The data also shows that about 82.3 percent of Hispanics in Arizona that are eligible to vote are citizens by birth, whereas 17.7 were naturalized.
About 87.8 percent of eligible Hispanic voters in Arizona have Mexican heritage.
The research center also estimates that there were about 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2014, and about 5.8 million, or 52 percent, were Mexican.
However, there were about 6.4 million undocumented Mexican immigrants in 2009.
According to the Migration Policy institute, this decline is attributed to various factors, including declining birthrates in Mexico, economic changes in both the U.S. and Mexico as well as increased border enforcement from the U.S.
The report, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, also shows significant increases in migration from China and India due to the U.S.’s shift from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy.
The Department of Homeland Security reports that the number of Border Patrol agents has increased from about 9,100 in 2001 to more than 17,700.
The department also reports that it screens 100% of outgoing rail shipments, that it has increased Unmanned Aircraft System coverage “to the entire Southwest border” and has built 650 miles of fencing along the border since 9-11.
In 2008, The U.S. Department of State launched the Merida Initiative and received $2.5 billion from Congress to implement the program.
The program is called “an unprecedented partnership between the United States and Mexico” by the department and is intended to fight organized crime and violence.
Laid out in the initiative is a plan to reform Mexico’s justice sector by training police, investigators, prosecutors and defense counsel, as well as vetting Mexican police officers to prevent corruption, training them to fight tactically and to investigate using modern practices and technologies.
Goals of the initiative also include accrediting Mexican prisons with the American Correctional Association and establishing drug treatment courts to address “addiction as a public health issue” and serve as a “viable alternative to incarceration for drug abusers.”