Number of college-educated Mexican immigrants in US has risen: study

A new study finds that the number of Mexican immigrants with college degrees living in the U.S. has surged since 2000.

A study released this week by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) found that the number of Mexican immigrants with a bachelor’s degree or greater living in the U.S. jumped from 269,000 in 2000 to 678,000 in 2017, an increase of more than 150 percent.

{mosads}The study attributed the increase largely to a surge in newer immigrants with college degrees, while noting that many found themselves underemployed for their skill levels upon arriving to the U.S.

“Top industries of employment for college-educated Mexicans in Texas were a mix of more and less skilled work, raising questions about underemployment and what can be done to make the most of these immigrants’ potential contributions to the state and U.S. economies,” read a fact sheet released by MPI.

The study found that 27 percent of all Mexican immigrants to the United States live in Texas, and that those with higher levels of education are found in large numbers in the cities of Houston and Dallas, while many higher-skilled immigrants were also located in communities such as San Antonio, McAllen, and El Paso.

Whether those rates will continue is in question due to recent policies from the Trump administration that have seen the approval rates for highly-skilled immigrant visas decline.

The rate of H-1B visa approvals, which cover high-skill immigrants with tech degrees, has fallen every year since President Trump took office, as the president has vowed to refocus America’s immigration on higher-skilled workers by cutting down on immigrants who supposedly fill positions that U.S.-born workers would otherwise take.

In an executive order earlier this year, Trump wrote that the H-1B program would be reviewed, stating that it “should include only the most skilled and highest-paid applicants and should never, ever be used to replace American workers.”