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Title: Mexicans in US leave towns half-empty but richer
Source:
Reuters
URL Source: http://today.reuters.com/news/artic ... _US-MEXICO-USA-IMMIGRATION.xml
Published: Apr 26, 2006
Author: By Tim Gaynor
Post Date: 2006-04-26 17:53:30 by Zipporah
Keywords: None
Views: 87
Comments: 4
Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:48 PM ET CHURINTZIO, Mexico (Reuters) - This sun-baked central Mexican town has lost almost all its farm jobs, seven out of ten local houses lie empty and the majority of the residents have quit town, but life here has never been better. Far from feeling like a ghost town, Churintzio is enjoying perhaps the biggest economic boom in its history as massive emigration to a new life in the United States has brought a new prosperity to those who remain. Cars and pickup trucks with U.S. registration plates line the streets, cherished family homes are getting a lick of paint, and shops and small businesses are doing a steady trade on a stream of greenbacks sent home to the town's bank and currency exchange houses each month. "Everything good that we have, we owe to them," said widow Teresa Perez, 52, who has five of her 10 children working in San Francisco. "As soon as they get established over there they find work and send home money for their families to live on -- and it has transformed life here," mayor Mario Cendejas said this week in the colonial town in the central state of Michoacan, about five hours drive west of Mexico City. The rural town with its shady square and baroque church has seen its population plummet to just 3,000 people from highs of around 7,000 more than a decade ago as residents left en masse for the United States. Most work on U.S. farms and construction sites, in hotels and restaurants, and they typically send $300-$500 a month back to their families here, allowing them to supplement an otherwise precarious existence. The U.S. Congress is locked in negotiations on immigration reform with rival proposals that range from embracing illegal workers or criminalizing them and building a wall along much of the Mexico border to keep others out. Congress' final decision could determine the future of some 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States as well as hundreds of towns like Churintzio and the broader health of the Mexican economy. Mexicans in the United States sent more than $20 billion home to their families last year, making remittances the country's second most important source of foreign currency after oil exports. "We depend almost 100 percent on what our families send us," said Nubia Rodriguez as she tended shop at the California Dolares exchange house. "We are really hoping they reach a deal." DEPENDENT ECONOMY Michoacan is one of the states most affected by the tide of emigration. Many of its towns are almost empty and in some there are so few men left that women face serious problems in finding partners. The upside is that the state received a cash injection of $2.6 billion from remittances last year, equivalent to $650 for every man, woman and child still living there. Standing behind the counter of his general store selling everything from soft drinks to plumbing supplies, long time resident Luis Alfaro is certain the cash from migrant workers has thrown a vital lifeline to the otherwise declining town. "Hardly anyone lives from farming anymore, and there are very few jobs," he said with a shrug. "If it wasn't for the remittances, this place would be a ghost town." The remittance economy has changed the commercial life of the town, which once offered little more than work as a farm hand for about $5 a day. Now it has two currency exchange houses and a branch of the Bancomer bank, as well as two travel agencies specializing in flights to the United States. The USA Travel Express agency set up in March offers direct flights from the state capital Morelia and nearby Guadalajara to cities across California for those with visas, and a shuttle service to Tijuana for those without. "About 70 to 80 percent of the population live in the United States," so there is definitely a demand," manager Ignacio Mendoza said simply.
An agent with Mexico's state-run migrant welfare agency Grupo Beta talks to a group of undocumented migrants seeking to cross over into the U.S. via Nogales, Mexico in this September 4, 2004 file photo. Mexicans in the United States sent more than $20 billion home to their families last year, making remittances the country's second most important source of foreign currency after oil exports. REUTERS/Tim Gaynor/Files
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#1. To: Zipporah (#0)
It's very laudable that they take such good care of their families - probably much better than Americans do. But that doesn't help US, does it?
#3. To: mehitable (#1)
if Im not mistaken the $$ sent back to Mexico makes up a large part of Mexico's income
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Replies to Comment # 1. It's very laudable that they take such good care of their families - probably much better than Americans do. But that doesn't help US, does it?
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