Think everyone crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. is a Mexican immigrant? Think again. The Washington Post reports on the phenomena of non-Mexican immigrants from as far away as Brazil making their way in through Texas, and the crackdown that Border Patrol has started to stop them.

The Weslaco station, 50 miles upriver from the Gulf of Mexico, is ground zero in the effort to stem the flow of non-Mexican immigrants. More than half of “other than Mexican” immigrants apprehended this year by the Border Patrol were caught in the Rio Grande Valley sector, which spans 19 Texas counties and the river’s last 320 miles.

Last year, the largest group caught in the sector was Brazilian. But in August, the United States expanded the deportation of non-Mexican border crossers without court hearings, and in October, the Mexican government stopped letting Brazilians enter without a visa. The number of Brazilians caught here is just 500 this fiscal year, down from 22,124 in fiscal 2005.

This fiscal year 52 percent of non-Mexicans caught here said they were from El Salvador.

From over 22,000 to just 500 in only one year? Only because Mexico requires visas for Brazilians now? Pretty dramatic drop based on one piece of policy change from the other side of the border.

Via / Washington Post

Photo via CNN.com