Increased security along the U.S. border to stem the rising flow of migrants has not reduced it "one bit," Council Secretary General Elena Zúñiga said at a U.N. Population Fund conference on migration in Latin America.

"After 15 years, what we have seen is a growth in migration, and growth in a way that is much less safe," she said.

Zúñiga said the migration is mainly due to a lack of jobs in Mexico, and will drop with economic growth.

The country's population is rising by about one percent per year, but is expected to cool to 0.6 percent by 2030. Emigration is expected to fall to about 380,000 people per year by 2025.

Arie Hoekman, the population fund's representative in Mexico, said that "we are seeing a greater flow in undocumented migrants with very low educational levels." Experts at the meeting said that the migration also affects a migrant's hometown, where relatives receive money sent home.

"In some places, they've stopped working the land, and live off the money (remittances)," Hoekman said.

He said there are also some inflationary effects. "Products become more expensive, and the value of properties is rising in several communities where there are more migrants who maintain close ties," Hoekman said.