It is pretty pitiful for Goodlatte and his committee and the right wing media point to ““Word has gotten out around the world about President Obama’s lax immigration enforcement policies…” Ignoring the more than 2 million deported under the current administration… Note the article from The NEW REPUBLIC posted below comparing the numbers of people returned/removed/deported in the Bush and Obama administrations:

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117412/deportations-under-obama-vs-bush-who-deported-more-immigrants

But, do any of these numbers mention the fact that in general, deportations have gone down because the overall numbers of people coming into the country, especially from Mexico, have gone down since the high point in the early-2000s, mainly due to the recession in the US economy. The New Republic article (and the general focus on comparing administrations) is meaningless without considering the numbers of people actually coming or not coming.

In terms of the increase in people coming from Central America, those numbers will always be smaller than the numbers coming from Mexico–the countries are much smaller:

Guatemala 15 million
Honduras 8 million
El Salvador 6.5 million…(also despite its small size, El Salvador is by far the most densely populated country in the region with more than 300 people per square mile)
Compare to Mexico at 123 million…(with population density of about 60 per square mile)

http://www.photius.com/rankings/geography/population_density_persons_per_sq_km_2012_0.html

The journey is much more difficult, expensive and dangerous from Central America. Amnesty International has estimated that as many as 70,000 Central American immigrants have disappeared while traveling through Mexico in recent years.

Considering how the numbers of people, including children, are coming now from Central America, it seems clear that the conditions in those places are getting so desperate that the choice to leave becomes worth the risks. -molly