Americans, Mexicans equal about emigrating

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PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Mexicans are no more likely than U.S. residents to express a desire to leave their home country, a Gallup poll released Monday indicated.

Eleven percent of Mexicans said they would leave their homeland if they were given an opportunity, just as 11 percent of Americans said they would emigrate, results indicated.

The 11 percent reported for Mexicans was a drop of about half from 21 percent in 2007. The 11 percent of Americans who said they would emigrate hasn't changed much during the past four years.

The U.S. Congress is considering immigration reform this year.

Improved economic conditions and lower unemployment are two reasons why fewer Mexicans expressed a desire to leave, Gallup said.

Among those Mexicans who expressed an inclination to leave, few said they have actual plans to do so in the next year, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said. Of the Americans who said they would leave if given the opportunity, less than 1 percent indicated they plan to leave in the next 12 months.

The findings are from 2012 Gallup World Poll surveys conducted in the United States and Mexico.

Results are based on face-to-face interviews with about 1,000 adults in Mexico in April and December and in the United States in January 2012 and June. The margin of error ranges from 3.4 percentage points to 4.1 percentage points.