As news outlets report on record numbers of undocumented immigrants risking their lives to cross into the United States at our southern borders, especially during the temporary suspension of Title 42 which granted entry to those seeking asylum in the US, other undocumented immigrants are leaving the country after years of residency and integration. Their exodus from the US is one of many reasons why the total number of undocumented immigrants in the country has remained relatively stable according to demographers, notwithstanding the increase in applications at the southern border. There is a vital misconception, perpetuated by political rhetoric in our media outlets, that underlies discussions of immigration to the US dictating that “everyone wants to come, but no one leaves” as reported by Robert Warren, a senior visiting fellow at the Center for Migration Studies.

Economic upturns and a desire to reunite with family has resulted in the number of undocumented people from countries like Poland, Brazil, and Mexico to return to their home countries. Records also show that the number of people living in the US without legal immigration status from the Philippines, Uruguay, South Korea, and Peru declined by 30 percent in the decade between 2010 and 2020. In the same period, the undocumented population from Mexico dropped from 6.6 million to 4.4 million.

Emigrating from the US is a choice that Irma and Javier Hernandez made, leaving New York City for Oaxaca, Mexico after nearly thirty years of living and working without legal status in New York and raising four US Citizen children. Not having the luxury to travel back to their homeland for years due to their immigration status, the Hernandez’ came to a point where they chose to return to Mexico after years of hard work in the US. Their savings were parlayed into a small plot of land in Mexico where they could grow crops for sale and a tortilla making business to support themselves in their new home. Lack of opportunity prompted Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez to leave their lives behind and enter the US without legal documentation. Once the opportunity presented itself to return to a better life in the place they once fled, the Hernandez’ like many others, took it and maintain hope they can once again visit the place they called home for many years.