Another wave of illegal immigration may be near

MIAMI - With each day that passes, the chances of Congress agreeing on how to overhaul the nation's immigration laws grow dimmer. What members of Congress need to realize, though, is that another massive wave of illegal immigration is forming and rapidly headed to our shores.
 
The Senate passed a sweeping immigration bill last summer, but the Republican-led House of Representatives has done nothing in the 10 months since. House GOP leaders have refused to take up the Senate bill, ignored a similar bill filed by House Democrats and have only introduced "principles" of what their version of an immigration bill should look like.
 
Meanwhile, there is growing consensus that changes in the economies of Latin America and the U.S. are creating the perfect climate for another wave of undocumented immigrants racing north.
 
A report released last week by the Inter-American Development Bank raises serious questions about the future of Latin American economies.
 
A slowdown in the Chinese economy would lower commodity prices around the world, which would hammer Latin American countries that for years have reaped profits selling to the Chinese. The slow-but-steady economic recovery in the USA could also hurt Latin American economies because of rising interest rates and the U.S. Federal Reserve slowing its bond purchases in the region.
 
Add an improved outlook in U.S. sectors that tend to lure low-skilled immigrants, like construction and retail, and the conditions are ideal for unemployed Latin Americans trying to find work in America.
 
"There will be more pressure for immigrants – both legal and illegal – to come to the United States," says Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based, non-partisan think tank that tracks migration around the world.