[BretLudwig]

Some Mexicans Leaving U.S., Planning Never to Return

Immigration;

But hard times, not tepid growth back home, are prompting some Colorado
Mexicans to leave.

"After going months without a full-time job, Daniel Ramirez has decided
it's time to return to family in Mexico.

Vicenta Rodriguez Lopez says she can't afford to live in Colorado any more
because her husband was deported.

Roberto Espinoza is going back, too. After 18 years as a mechanic for a
General Motors dealership in Denver, his work permit wasn't renewed and he
didn't want to remain in the country illegally.

All are leaving Colorado in time for Christmas €“ joining a traditional
holiday migration that will number almost 1 million people, says Mexico's
interior ministry. But they have no intention of returning to Colorado, a
place that promised prosperity.

Layoffs, dwindling job opportunities, anti-immigrant sentiment and the
crackdown on illegal immigrants are forcing hard choices on many Mexican
nationals in Colorado. Though not an exodus, some are returning to a
nation they haven't seen in years.


"You despair. You think, 'I used to earn $600 a week and now I'm getting
half of that a week?"' said Ramirez, 38, who lost his Denver construction
job in August. He left last week, driving to San Luis Potosi in central
Mexico.

Mexico's consul general in Denver, Eduardo Arnal, said more people like
Ramirez are going home for good.

He cites a rise in applications for import tax exemptions by Mexican
nationals bringing home their belongings. The consulate hasn't compiled
statistics for 2008 but says it receives about three applications a day,
compared to one per week in 2007.

"We've seen an increase in this service, which implies that there's a
tendency among a larger number of Mexicans who are returning home
definitively," Arnal said in an interview in Spanish.

Nationally, 1,809 Mexican immigrants filed for the exemption between
January and August, compared to 1,447 the same period last year €“ a 25
percent increase, according to Mexico's foreign affairs ministry.

That's hardly an indicator of reverse migration, noted Carlos Rico,
Mexico's undersecretary for North American affairs. Rico said what is
known is that Mexicans are moving to other U.S. states €“ often places
that historically have not seen a large population of Mexicans. They
include North Carolina, Georgia, Idaho and Alaska, Rico said.

Whether for economic or anti-immigrant reasons, Rico said, "People are
looking for alternatives within the United States."

An estimated 243,253 Mexicans lived in Colorado in 2007, down from 254,844
in 2006, according to the U.S. Census. The state's construction industry, a
traditional source of employment for Mexicans, is contracting, and
University of Colorado economists expect the state to lose 11,200
construction jobs next year.

Nationally, remittances to Mexico are down, as is Mexican emigration to
the U.S.

August remittances totaled $1.9 billion, down 12 percent from August 2007,
Mexico's Central Bank says. It's the first drop since the bank began
tracking remittances in 1996.

Mexico's National Statistics and Geography Institute estimates that
814,000 Mexicans emigrated to the U.S. in 2006, compared to 1.2 million in
2007.

Arnal noted that Mexico's economy is growing, albeit modestly. Mexico's
Treasury Department reported a 1.7 percent growth rate for the third
quarter and forecasts 2 percent growth for the year."


http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=6241
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...s.19d086e.html

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