Legal permanent resident, H-2A, and H-2B visas issued to Mexican nationals and unauthorized entries into the United States by Mexican nationals, 1987–2012
| Year | Unauthorized | LPR | H-2A and H-2B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 3,088,878 | 72,351 | 4,808 |
| 1988 | 3,013,955 | 95,039 | 7,759 |
| 1989 | 3,210,705 | 405,172 | 17,877 |
| 1990 | 3,816,317 | 679,068 | 6,573 |
| 1991 | 3,562,286 | 946,167 | 8,219 |
| 1992 | 3,546,335 | 213,802 | 8,116 |
| 1993 | 4,039,218 | 126,561 | 10,267 |
| 1994 | 2,712,132 | 111,398 | 9,606 |
| 1995 | 3,022,580 | 89,932 | 9,524 |
| 1996 | 3,196,026 | 163,572 | 14,372 |
| 1997 | 3,319,591 | 146,865 | 23,011 |
| 1998 | 3,890,252 | 131,575 | 33,510 |
| 1999 | 3,434,264 | 147,573 | 46,405 |
| 2000 | 4,027,279 | 173,919 | 56,090 |
| 2001 | 3,245,398 | 206,426 | 64,269 |
| 2002 | 2,415,889 | 219,380 | 67,795 |
| 2003 | 1,902,373 | 115,585 | 78,214 |
| 2004 | 2,017,386 | 175,411 | 81,239 |
| 2005 | 1,906,996 | 161,445 | 89,810 |
| 2006 | 1,754,322 | 173,749 | 114,187 |
| 2007 | 1,271,950 | 148,640 | 132,605 |
| 2008 | 989,596 | 189,989 | 120,210 |
| 2009 | 859,738 | 164,920 | 85,699 |
| 2010 | 851,835 | 139,120 | 85,692 |
| 2011 | 1,185,495 | 143,446 | 88,106 |
| 2012 | 1,860,285 | 146,406 | 97,665 |
Source: H-2A and H-2B visa issuance data from 1997 to 2012 are from the U.S. Department of State. H-2A and H-2B data for 1987–1996 are from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Yearbook of Immigration Statistics and reflect H-2A and H-2B worker admissions into the United States. (Because the State Department’s data on H-2 visas issued by nationality were not available before 1997, the number of H-2A and H-2B admissions into the United States are used as a proxy for the department’s visa issuance data for 1987-1996.) Unauthorized entries are based on Massey and Singer’s (1995) methodology. A probability of apprehension is calculated from border crossings reported in Mexican Migration Project (MMP) data. Its inverse was multiplied by the number of border apprehensions officially reported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Probability of apprehensions and number of border apprehensions are available on the MMP website (MMP 143). LPR visa data are from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Yearbook of Immigration Statistics.