Pipeline to America: Africans, Asians, Haitians — Migrants from Across the Globe Risk Everything to Cross Into the U.S.

Well, the more things develop, the more Donald Trump is proven correct.

Check out this sensational story, from the front page at today's Los Angeles Times, "Africans, Asians, Haitians: The sharp rise in non-Latin American migrants trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico":

Haitians, Africans, Asians: Mexico’s border cities are getting overwhelmed with migrants headed to America https://t.co/eK7BYGLa85 pic.twitter.com/cdVZ3c3GLU

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 22, 2016

One morning in January, five men from Nepal showed up at the Casa del Migrante in Tijuana, looking for a bed for the night.

That’s odd, the shelter’s director, Father Patrick Murphy, remembers thinking.

This border city has been a gateway to generations of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Mexico and Central America, people dreaming of a better life in the United States.

But Nepal was 8,000 miles away. What were they doing here?

Within months, Tijuana would be teeming with migrants from across the globe — from Haiti, India, Bangladesh and various parts of Africa — all hoping to reach the U.S.

In a surge Mexican officials are calling unprecedented, some 15,000 migrants from outside Latin America passed through Baja California this year — nearly five times the number seen in 2015.

More than a third of the detainees being held in California immigration holding centers in September were from outside Latin America, U.S. officials say.

As they traverse a circuitous and dangerous path up the spine of South America, Central America and Mexico, they have strained resources along the route and presented new challenges for securing America’s southern border.

And here's a personal story:

Emmanuel Ngunyi arrived in Tijuana on a flight from Mexico City, where he had spent a few days recovering from a tortuous journey that began with a flight from Cameroon to Ecuador and continued overland through half a dozen countries.

A member of Cameroon’s English-speaking minority, the 25-year-old had been jailed twice for supporting a banned secessionist movement. The second time was the worst, he said. His jailers tied him from a ceiling and raped him with a candle.

If he could make it to the U.S., he was convinced, “My life will be secure.”

Some countries were easy to get through, even without a visa. Officials were issuing permits to transiting migrants giving them a few days to cross their territory. But other places — Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama — had closed their borders to the migrants. He had to enlist the help of smugglers to cross vast stretches of jungle, swampland and mountains on foot.

In all, it took Ngunyi two months to reach Mexico and cost him nearly $10,000. It was mid-May when he landed in Tijuana, and the early morning chill made him shiver.

He tried to hire a taxi from the airport to the border, but got into an argument with the driver, who he said grabbed his phone and pushed him out of the car. So he decided to walk the last few miles.

There was a long line of people waiting to use the pedestrian crossing at San Ysidro. He walked to the front and told the first police officer he saw: “I want to request asylum in the United States.”

“Do you see people like you here?” the officer barked at him. He was sent to the back of the line.

When he made it to the front, he was escorted into the port of entry to wait for an interview with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The wait lasted most of the day, and he fell asleep on the tile floor.

At last, it was his turn to be questioned. An official asked his name, what country he came from, his address.

Then another official burst into the room. “No, no, no, we don’t have space for them,” he recalled her saying. “Back to Mexico. All of them back to Mexico.”

It was past midnight when Ngunyi found himself once again in Tijuana, the gate to America swinging shut behind him...

Interesting that these migrants are coming here. You know, they could always emigrate to Angela Merkel's Germany, before the Germans pull the welcome mat.

And stories like this are only going to bolster the GOP's case for securing the border. Donald Trump's got the pulse of the nation in this issue. It's why he's taking office on January 20th.

Still more.

At Least 32 Dead in Mexico Fireworks Market Explosion (VIDEO)

At CNN, "Mexico explosion: 32 dead at fireworks market as search teams comb rubble."

That's a spectacular explosion, almost like a military bombing zone. Man.

CNN's @sarasidnerCNN is at the scene of the massive fireworks market blast Tuesday in Mexico https://t.co/erMO1c1H9n https://t.co/R7hZlFktNQ pic.twitter.com/uBnx0qHON2

— CNN (@CNN) December 21, 2016

#BREAKING: Fireworks explosion rips through market outside Mexico City, dozens injured. https://t.co/s4FBLe7XVl pic.twitter.com/3rhxSk4a4Z

— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) December 20, 2016

Donald Trump's Immigration Speech Threatens Republican Party's Future

I don't really care about the future of the GOP, particularly if the party continues to morph into a mirror image of the Democrats.

The job of the opposition party is to oppose. Might the Republicans need to spend a few years in the political wilderness? Fine with me. Frankly, we could use a party realignment that shakes up the entire party system.

But see Cathleen Decker, at LAT, "In immigration speech, Donald Trump spurns softened tone and threatens Republican future":

Donald Trump’s aggressively tough speech on immigration buried the notion that he planned to pivot away from the posture that got him the Republican nomination to a gentler position tailored for more moderate general election voters, Republicans included.

It also may have buried his party’s strategy for long-term survival: the effort to appeal to the Latino and Asian voters who are replacing the waning numbers of white voters on whom the GOP has long depended.

Trump’s Wednesday night remarks made clear that he intends to try to win the presidency with the group that won him the nomination — mostly male, white voters who feel stressed by the economy, the rapid changes in American society or both — in defiance of fears even among other Republicans that such a base is not big enough to secure the White House.

Nothing in his speech served to expand his reach among minority Americans. For some Republicans who have worked for decades to diversify their party, the result felt apocalyptic.

Mike Madrid, a California GOP strategist who has sought to broaden the party’s reach among Latinos and other nonwhite voters, declared himself “stunned” at Trump’s approach.

“We’re witnessing the end of the party,” he said. “I now know what my father meant in 1980 when he told me the party he grew up with” — in that case, the Democrats’ — “was no longer the party he felt comfortable in.”

Republicans for decades have debated what was required to attract the minority voters who grow more influential each presidential cycle: Was it a softening of policy on immigration, or merely a softened tone toward immigrants?

Few considered what Trump delivered Wednesday night: a speech that was hardened in both policy and tone.

Trump reiterated his call for a giant wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He said that his immediate priority as president would be deporting those undocumented immigrants involved in crimes, but also asserted that no one in the country without proper documents would be outside the reach of deportation officers.

He said that even those brought here illegally as babies would be subject to being deported, and that all immigrants here without legal authorization would have to return to their country of origin to seek future return.

He also expanded on a plan to curb legal immigration and said he would set in motion a system by which future applicants would be judged by unspecified accomplishments — a standard that could be unattainable by many current immigrants.

Dividing immigrant families, while unfortunate, might be necessary, he suggested, because “our greatest compassion must be for our American citizens.”

Trump referred repeatedly to “criminal aliens” — words that are taken as a slap by many Latinos — and painted a world in which violent hordes were streaming over the border to target Americans. (Both crime and immigration levels remain near historic lows.)

Earlier in the day, during a quick visit with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Trump had praised Latino immigrants as “spectacular” and “hard-working.” But by Wednesday night he was casting them and other immigrants as something more akin to a blight.

“No one will be exempt. … Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation,” Trump said. He added later, with a sharp edge, that “people will know that you can’t just smuggle in, hunker down and wait to be legalized. Not gonna work that way. Those days are over.”

The views Trump expressed have an intense appeal among his most loyal supporters, but not among a majority of rank-and-file Republicans.

Still more at that top link.

MAGA!

Donald Trump Delivers Tough Immigration Speech in Phoenix (VIDEO)

At the Arizona Republic, "Trump in Phoenix: Watch immigration speech live":

7:15 p.m.: Trump vows to build the wall

Donald Trump began laying out his immigration plan, asking the crowd, “Are you ready? Are you ready?”

His first step: “We will build a great wall along the southern border," he said.

The crowd chanted, “Build the wall.”

“And Mexico will pay for the wall. They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for the wall. Great people and great leaders, but they’re going to pay for the wall."

Trump said he would build a wall that was tall, impenetrable and beautiful.

“We will use the best technology,” he said, “including above and below-ground sensors, towers, aerial surveillance, to supplement the wall.”

Trump said he believed Mexico would help with his plan because it would stop criminal cartels.

“Especially after meeting with their wonderful, wonderful president today,” Trump said, “they want to solve this problem along with us, and I’m sure they will.”

More at LAT, "Campaign 2016 updates: Donald Trump vows that Mexico will pay for a wall along southern border."

Plus, more video, "Donald Trump says Illegal Immigrants will be out within the 1st hour he's President - AGAIN," and "Donald Trump says maybe ICE will deport Hillary Clinton - Phoenix, Arizona."

And, "Donald Trump lays out three steps of his immigration policy."

Trump Secures Major Victory in Mexico Visit (VIDEO)

TPM's Josh Marshall had an essay up yesterday asking, "Can Trump Be This Stupid? (Not a Trick Question)."

I thought "Can Josh Marshal Be This Stupid?"

The Mexico visit was a brilliant idea. It surprised everyone and actually opened a dialog with Mexico on building the wall. Trump beats expectations and appears diplomatic. Pretty smart, I thought.

So here's Byron York with the confirmation, at the Washington Examiner, "Mexico gamble a huge win for Trump":

About an hour before Donald Trump made his joint statement with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, a strategist in Trump's extended circle saw success on the horizon.

"I bet they have a nice meeting where they both explain their positions and promise to talk further — it doesn't have to be any more complicated than that," the strategist explained. "If [Trump] just has a calm, behind-closed-doors meeting, has a photo taken, looks presidential, and gets out of town, that's a big win."

Indeed, it was a big win — a very big win — for Trump. Going into a meeting with the potential for disaster — who knew how Pena Nieto would receive the world's most controversial presidential candidate or what embarrassments might lie ahead? — Trump came out of the meeting looking very much like a potential President of the United States. Standing beside the Mexican leader in front of a green-gray granite wall reminiscent of the United Nations, Trump presented the picture of a statesman.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Trump was reciting "The Snake" before a rowdy audience in Everett, Washington. In Mexico, he looked like a world leader.

Before the meeting, some in the Trump circle saw a win virtually no matter what happened. "It's a great gesture," another adviser said. "Frankly, the outcome doesn't matter. It's the fact that he did it. He took the guy up on his invitation, and even if there's no substance, at least the gesture was made, and it absolutely, totally overshadows anything Hillary Clinton is going to do for the next 48 hours."

After the hour-long session, Trump benefited enormously from the conventions and practices of international relations. There they were, the president at one podium and the candidate at another, translators translating, the assembled international press watching. When it came time to talk, Pena Nieto observed the niceties of diplomacy, treating Trump as a quasi-president already...

Keep reading (via Memeorandum).

Previously, "Donald Trump to Visit Mexico to Meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto."

ADDED: Still more at Instapundit.

Donald Trump to Visit Mexico to Meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto

This is great.

Trump continues to upend the news cycle.

And if it's a productive meeting, he could damage Hillary Clinton's momentum in the Hispanic community.

He's unpredictable and totally fearless. I like it.

At LAT, "Donald Trump headed to Mexico for meeting with Enrique Peña Nieto."

More at Memeorandum.

Trump will be making another "major address" tomorrow, on immigration.

It's highly anticipated. And it's going to be an interesting news day.

Mexico's Baja California Won't Ban Bullfighting for Now

As soon as I started reading this piece I was reminded that my dad used to take me and my sisters to see the bull fights in Mexico. My younger sister and I used to mimic the Mexicans yelling their Spanish shout outs, Olé!!

At LAT, "Mexican state of Baja California balks, again, at banning bullfighting":

Fifteen minutes into a heated session on whether bullfighting should be banned in Baja California, legislator David Ruvalcaba proposed that the fate of the controversial but financially attractive sport needed further study.

Immediately the boos rang out, and half the crowded walked out.

For the third time this year, the Congress of the Mexican state of Baja California blinked in the face of banning a sport that has deep cultural roots in Mexico but is increasingly viewed as animal cruelty.

On Thursday, 12 legislators voted for the delay, eight opposed it and two abstained. And like that, bullfighting season will indeed begin Sunday in Tijuana.

Though they have repeatedly chosen not to vote on the issue, legislators here bristled at the notion, put forward by the bullfighting lobby, that the state does not have the power to regulate the sport.

“Of course we have the power to regulate the sport,” said legislator Juan Manuel Molina, though he allowed that that power carried the responsibility of exploring the ban further.

“It's a matter of culture and a matter of belief, but it's also a matter of humanity,” Molina said. “The spectacle is cruel.”

But Molina questioned how it was possibly fair to ban bullfighting while allowing other sports that claim Mexican heritage, such as cockfighting and the rodeo.

Animal rights groups have presented signature campaigns, celebrity endorsements and polls that purport to indicate overwhelming opposition to bullfighting as part of a public campaign against the sport, which has its roots in Spain and has been banned in some Latin American countries.

Bullfighting is increasingly unpopular in Mexico, according to the polling firm Parametria. In a 2015 poll, 73% of Mexican citizens supported a nationwide ban.

The Mexican states of Sonora and Coahuila, which border the U.S., have banned bullfighting, as has the southern state of Guerrero. But the sport remains popular in the capital, Mexico City, where the Plaza de Toros Mexico seats 48,000 spectators, the largest bull ring in the world.

On Sunday in Tijuana, the largest city in Baja California, the event will feature a rejoneador, a bullfighter on horseback, for the first bullfight of the season.

Built next to the sea and nearly adjacent to the border wall that separates it from California, the Tijuana bullfight ring is designed to appeal to Americans, even extending special offers to San Diego tourists: For a minimum of $200, guests will be whisked to the grounds of a winery on Saturday for a “Toros and Vino Event” that will feature two hours of private bullfights and a return trip across the border before the main event on Sunday.

If the ban is successful, the nearest bull ring near the Southwest border would be Chihuahua's La Esperanza...

 More.

Supreme Court to Hear Arguments in Obama's Illegal Alien DREAM Programs

Obama's unconstitutional immigration grab is at the Court on Monday.

At LAT, "In last big test of Obama era, Supreme Court to take up immigration policy":

The Supreme Court's last great case of the Obama era comes before the justices Monday when the administration's lawyers defend his plan to offer work permits to as many as 4 million immigrants who have been living here illegally for years.

Once again, lawyers for Republican leaders from Congress and the states will be challenging the actions of the Democratic president. And as with past battles over healthcare and same-sex marriage, Obama administration lawyers will need to win over at least one of the court's more conservative justices.

If the justices split 4 to 4 — a possibility since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia — the tie vote would keep in place a Texas judge's order that has blocked President Obama's deportation relief plan from taking effect.

At issue is whether the president has the power to extend a "temporary reprieve" from the threat of deportation and a work permit to immigrant parents of U.S. citizens or lawful residents. More than one-fourth of those who stand to benefit live in California, according to immigration experts.

The two sides disagree not only on what is the right outcome, but on what the case is about. One side sees a great constitutional clash over the rule of law in a democracy, while the other sees a narrow regulatory dispute.

The Republicans, in written briefs, portray Obama's order as a profound threat to the constitutional system. If the president can defy Congress and change the law on his own, the nation has abandoned "a bedrock constitutional principle," they say.

This "would be one of the largest changes in immigration policy in the nation's history," say lawyers for Texas and 25 other Republican-led states. They note that the president's action arose after Congress refused to change the law in line with his wishes, so the order rests on "an unprecedented, sweeping assertion of executive power," they say.

The House Republicans joined the case on the side of Texas, and if anything, raised the stakes even higher. They described Obama's immigration order as "the most aggressive of executive power claims" and a threat to "the separation of powers that underpins our very constitutional structure."

Meanwhile, U.S. Solicitor Gen. Donald Verrilli Jr., the administration's top lawyer, sought to play down the significance of Obama's order and defuse the constitutional clash. He said the immigrants who qualify would be offered a temporary relief from deportation that does not "confer any form of legal status." He cited instances in which Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush gave similar relief to large groups of immigrants who were fleeing wars or despotic regimes.

Followers Flock to Hear Pope Francis Warn Against 'Dialogue with the Devil'

Shoot, I would've flocked to listen to that, heh.

At the Los Angeles Times, "More than 1 million flock to hear Pope Francis warn against 'dialogue with the devil'":

Pope Francis Sunday traveled to one of Mexico’s most dangerous and impoverished cities to tell the faithful that they must not negotiate with “the devil” and that embracing God will protect against the divided, conflictive societies that imperil the world.

He also paid recognition to Christians slain for their faith, “martyrs,” from centuries ago and from today—an allusion to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa, one of Francis’ great preoccupations.

More than a million people are believed to have attended the pope’s Mass, inside the venue and outdoors, in this scruffy suburb of the Mexican capital, braving cold temperatures in the morning to fan out over a wide area of the city, across block after block, to receive the first pope from the Americas.

“You cannot dialogue with the devil,” the pope said in his homily, departing, as he often does, from his prepared text. “He will always win.”

Instead, the pope said, people should embrace the spirit of fraternity to avoid forces that “try to separate us, making a divided and fractious family, a divided and fractious society. A society of the few for the few.”

More.

Francisco Sanchez, Illegal Immigrant Suspect in Kathryn Steinle Murder, Wants Case Dismissed

Flashback to July, "Deported 5 Times Previously, Illegal Alien Confesses to Murder of Kathryn Steinle at San Francisco's Pier 14."

Well, here's an update, at the Los Angeles Times, "Mexican national accused of shooting woman on San Francisco pier wants case dismissed."

More, at Yahoo News, "Lawyer: Fatal San Francisco pier shooting was an accident":

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The lawyer for a Mexican national charged with fatally shooting a young San Francisco woman as she walked on a city pier wants his client's murder charge dismissed, saying the killing that rekindled the national debate over illegal immigration was an accident.

The judge canceled a hearing scheduled for Friday, saying he wants more time to consider the issue. Attorneys will argue the matter on March 24...

Well, I hope Bill O'Reilly hasn't moved on from this case. If Sanchez's case is dismissed there are going to be howls of protest, rightfully so.

Sean Penn's 'Terrible Regret' About Rolling Stone El Chapo Article (VIDEO)

He thought he was going to start some big important discussion about the "failed" war on drugs, but instead instigated a media backlash against bogus celebrity journalism (you know, because Rolling Stone's not having credibility problems or anything).

At the Los Angeles Times, "Sean Penn's 'terrible regret' about his 'failed' El Chapo article: No new debate about War on Drugs."

Parts of Charlie Rose's "60 Minutes" interview aired today on CBS This Morning:

WATCH: Dramatic Video Shows Gun Battle During Raid on Mexican Drug Lord Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán

Following-up from yesterday, "Rolling Stone Stirs Controversy with Sean Penn's Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán Interview."

Via Telegraph UK:

Rolling Stone Stirs Controversy with Sean Penn's Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán Interview

At USA Today, "'Rolling Stone' stirs controversy with drug lord interview":

There almost had to be something wrong with this picture: Rolling Stone magazine, still bruised from erroneous reporting about campus rape, scores an exclusive interview with escaped Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán.

The interview conducted by tough-guy actor Sean Penn and posted on the Rolling Stone website late Saturday fueled several journalistic misgivings. An editor's note said Guzmán was given right of refusal after reading a finished version, and some names had been changed. The magazine said Guzmán, who does not speak English, asked for no changes.

Ceding such control to Guzmán was professionally "inexcusable," wrote Reuters reporter Andrew Seaman, who chairs the ethics committee for the Society of Professional Journalists, in a blog Saturday night. The New York Post cited the same reason in labeling Penn "El Jerko."

Questions remain about whether the magazine's efforts to secure the interview in October helped law enforcement recapture the renowned prison escapee on Friday. An unnamed Mexican federal law enforcement official told the Associated Press that the Penn interview assisted its efforts.

Penn, in the article, makes clear he worked hard to avoid being noticed by police.

Other journalism analysts said the Guzmán interview was a bona fide exclusive or scoop — aside from the ethical issue of giving him the right to change the article — and could help restore the nearly 50-year-old magazine's tarnished image.

"Rolling Stone needed this story," said Samir Husni, professor at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the school. It was crucial for the magazine to show it remains a major player in journalism, he said.

"They are still a very relevant magazine doing such a great job that very few are actually doing," Husni said Sunday.

He said the decision allowing an actor to conduct the interview was a classic Rolling Stone mix of pop culture and journalism..

Keep reading.

Actually, I think this "good journalism" take is the minority position.

See Hadas Gold, "Rolling Stone has been just a whole study of journalism ethics these past couple years."

'Fast Times' Actor Has Courted Controversy

I'll always remember Sean Penn as "Jeff Spicoli," no matter what that dude does.

Here's more on him, at WSJ, "Sean Penn’s Interview With El Chapo Latest in Long History of Controversial Meetings":

Sean Penn shot to fame playing a high-school stoner who wanted to do anything but engage with the world.

Now, more than 30 years after his breakthrough role in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” the two-time Oscar winner is as well known for his off-screen political activism as he is for his intense on-screen performances.

Mr. Penn’s meeting with Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, revealed on Saturday, is the latest example of the 55-year-old actor inviting controversy by making high-profile visits with figures who are at odds with the U.S. government.

Mr. Penn’s interview with the drug kingpin follows the actor’s style of reporting—sparing no detail about the arrangements getting there or his emotional impressions of the man before him. “In what would be a seven-hour sit-down, I saw him without that smile only in brief flashes. As has been said of many notorious men, he has an indisputable charisma,” wrote Mr. Penn.

Over the past 20 years, Mr. Penn, with a mix of outrage and irreverence, has traveled to countries about to be attacked by the U.S., pledged support to Communist leaders who decry America and criticized the U.S. government for its handling of domestic affairs.

The “El Chapo” meeting, recounted by Mr. Penn in an article for Rolling Stone magazine, isn’t the first time the actor has taken on a provocative assignment for a publication.

In 2008, Mr. Penn recounted his meetings with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and Cuban president Raúl Castro for The Nation magazine.

Mr. Penn’s dispatches read like a travelogue sprinkled with diplomatic purpose; he writes of having mechanical difficulties on the plane ride there and then of asking Mr. Castro if he’d be willing to meet with President Obama.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Penn said Sunday the actor wasn’t commenting at this time...

A classic Hollywood useful idiot.

Still more, FWIW.

Mexican Actress Kate del Castillo Brokered Interview Deal for Sean Penn

Well, the tabloids had to go and find the clickbait celebrity angle.

And London's Daily Mail, "El Chapo's moll: How trusted Mexican actress Kate del Castillo brokered deal for Sean Penn to interview cartel boss... But ultimately proved his femme fatale."

And at LAT:

Actress Kate Del Castillo urged 'El Chapo' to use his power for good, brokered meeting with Sean Penn https://t.co/9cGSJzsL4q

— L.A. Times World (@latimesworld) January 10, 2016

'El Chapo' Met with Actor Sean Penn Months Before Recapture, Rolling Stone Magazine Says (VIDEO)

The Los Angeles Times reports.

Also at Rolling Stone, via Memeorandum, "El Chapo Speaks."

More at Fausta's, "Mexico: Sean Penn, El Chapo, friends?"

And watch, at CBS News 2 New York:

In Historic Shift, More Mexicans Leaving the U.S. Than Entering (VIDEO)

This was at Pew Research the other day, "More Mexicans Leaving Than Coming to the U.S."

And at the Sacramento Bee, "Study finds more Mexicans leaving the US than coming":

SAN DIEGO - More Mexicans are leaving than moving into the United States, reversing the flow of a half-century of mass migration, according to a study published Thursday.

The Pew Research Center found that slightly more than 1 million Mexicans and their families, including American-born children, left the U.S. for Mexico from 2009 to 2014. During the same five years, 870,000 Mexicans came to the U.S., resulting in a net flow to Mexico of 140,000.

The desire to reunite families is the main reason more Mexicans are moving south than north, Pew found. The sluggish U.S. economic recovery and tougher border enforcement are other key factors.

The era of mass migration from Mexico is "at an end," declared Mark Hugo Lopez, Pew's director of Hispanic research.

The finding follows a Pew study in 2012 that found net migration between the two countries was near zero, so this represents a turning point in one of the largest mass migrations in U.S. history. More than 16 million Mexicans moved to the United States from 1965 to 2015, more than from any other country.

"This is something that we've seen coming," Lopez said. "It's been almost 10 years that migration from Mexico has really slowed down."

The findings counter the narrative of an out-of-control border that has figured prominently in U.S. presidential campaigns, with Republican Donald Trump calling for Mexico pay for a fence to run the entire length of the 1,954-mile frontier. Pew said there were 11.7 million Mexicans living in the U.S. last year, down from a peak of 12.8 million in 2007. That includes 5.6 million living in the U.S. illegally, down from 6.9 million in 2007.

In another first, the Border Patrol arrested more non-Mexicans than Mexicans in the 2014 fiscal year, as more Central Americans came to the U.S., mostly through South Texas, and many of them turned themselves in to authorities.

The authors analyzed U.S. and Mexican census data and a 2014 survey by Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography. The Mexican questionnaire asked about residential history, and found that 61 percent of those who reported living in the U.S. in 2009 but were back in Mexico last year had returned to join or start a family. An additional 14 percent had been deported, and 6 percent said they returned for jobs in Mexico.

Dowell Myers, a public policy professor at the University of Southern California, said it's lack of jobs in the U.S. — not family ties — that is mostly motivating Mexicans to leave. Construction is a huge draw for young immigrants, but has yet to approach the levels of last decade's housing boom, he said.

"It's not like all of a sudden they decided they missed their mothers," Myers said. "The fact is, our recovery from the Great Recession has been miserable. It's been miserable for everyone."

Also, Mexico's population is aging, meaning there's less competition for young people looking for work. That's a big change from the 1990s, when many people entering the workforce felt they had no choice but to migrate north of the border, Myers said.

While the U.S. economic recovery is sluggish, Mexico has been free in recent years from the economic tailspins that drove earlier generations north in the 1980s and 1990s. While many parts of Mexico suffer grinding poverty and violence, others have become thriving manufacturing centers under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Still more.

VIDEO: Democrats Block 'Kate's Law' — Legislation Would Impose Mandatory Five-Year Sentence for Illegal Immigrants Convicted of Aggravated Felony After Already Being Deported

At Legal Insurrection, "Dems Block Kate’s Law But Effort to Pass Continues."

And here's Bill O'Reilly, who's been pushing for new legislation since Kathryn Steinle's murder. Sharyl Attkisson is interviewed:

Hurricane Patricia is Strongest Storm Ever Recorded (VIDEO)

Following-up from earlier, "Kristen Keogh Explains Hurricane Patricia (VIDEO)."

And here's more, from ABC News 10 San Diego, "Local geologist: Patricia is strongest storm ever recorded."

Kristen Keogh Explains Hurricane Patricia (VIDEO)

Watch, at ABC News 10 San Diego, "Hurricane Patricia explained."

Also at CNN, "Officials: Hurricane Patricia 'strongest hurricane..."