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Illegals Returning To Mexico Re-discover Why They Left
When her 3-year-old son begs for pizza, or when her family is shivering through yet another night in the Mexican highlands, those are the moments when Rosario Araujo misses America the most.Just three months ago, Araujo and her husband, José Zavala, were still living comfortably, though illegally, as migrant workers in Gilbert. He hung drywall for $10 an hour, and she cleaned houses. They had a small apartment, a washing machine and an occasional night out with their two American-born children. But when work dried up in the economic crisis, they were forced to head south. Now, they live in a cinder-block house, huddle near a space heater and wash clothes by hand. The family is part of a small but growing number of Mexican migrants who are heading home because of the U.S. recession and finding Mexico is barely prepared to receive them. "It was a difficult decision," Araujo admitted. "We took a lot of risks to get (to America). We miss it." Even in bad times, most illegal immigrants - they number 11.9 million, according to Pew Hispanic Center estimates - are staying put. U.S. salaries average about four times as high as those in Mexico, and Mexico's flat job market and drug-war violence have made home inhospitable. But the collapse of the U.S. economy - particularly the housing industry, which relies heavily on migrant labor - means that some workers could simply run out of cash in the months ahead. That could push many to return to their homeland, where at least family can provide shelter and food. "We have to face the possibility of a very large number of Mexicans (coming home)," Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said last month. The trend eventually could ease some of the strain that illegal immigrants place on services such as schools and hospitals in U.S. border areas, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a liberal Washington, D.C., think tank. The impact in Mexico could be enormous because the country has long depended on emigration as a kind of safety valve for the economy, which doesn't produce enough jobs for those entering the labor force. Espinosa said the government is trying to prepare schools and social agencies for an influx of poor migrants. That will be difficult. Many children who are returning home don't even speak Spanish. Other migrants bring expectations shaped from having lived in a developed country for years. Zavala worries about his children's education. "The schools there (in the United States), they take the children in a bus and give them food, books, everything," he said. "Here, you walk to school and you get nothing." For now, the couple are barely scraping by off their dwindling savings. Zavala spends his days tending his father's three cows, waiting for planting season and worrying about the future. Article is strongly sugar-coated. Often, the local Patron just says, "Take off the Nikes, put on your sandals, and get back to work in the fields, you high-school educated Peon dog, before I flog you." This order is not well-received. Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-12-10 |
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