But hard times, not tepid growth back home, are prompting some Colorado Mexicans to leave. (Whatever it takes. -Ed.)
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 aGeneral Motors dealership in Denver, his work permit wasn’t renewed andhe didn’t want to remain in the country illegally.
Allare leaving Colorado in time for Christmas – joining a traditionalholiday migration that will number almost 1 million people, saysMexico’s interior ministry. But they have no intention of returning toColorado, a place that promised prosperity.
Layoffs,dwindling job opportunities, anti-immigrant sentiment and the crackdownon illegal immigrants are forcing hard choices on many Mexicannationals in Colorado. Though not an exodus, some are returning to anation they haven’t seen in years.
“You despair.You think, ‘I used to earn $600 a week and now I’m getting half of thata week?”‘ said Ramirez, 38, who lost his Denver construction job inAugust. He left last week, driving to San Luis Potosi in centralMexico.
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 Mexicannationals bringing home their belongings. The consulate hasn’t compiledstatistics for 2008 but says it receives about three applications aday, compared to one per week in 2007.
“We’ve seen anincrease in this service, which implies that there’s a tendency among alarger number of Mexicans who are returning home definitively,” Arnalsaid in an interview in Spanish.
Nationally, 1,809Mexican 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’shardly an indicator of reverse migration, noted Carlos Rico, Mexico’sundersecretary for North American affairs. Rico said what is known isthat Mexicans are moving to other U.S. states – often places thathistorically have not seen a large population of Mexicans. They includeNorth Carolina, Georgia, Idaho and Alaska, Rico said.
Whether for economic or anti-immigrant reasons, Rico said, “People arelooking for alternatives within the United States.”
Anestimated 243,253 Mexicans lived in Colorado in 2007, down from 254,844in 2006, according to the U.S. Census. The state’s constructionindustry, a traditional source of employment for Mexicans, iscontracting, and University of Colorado economists expect the state tolose 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 August2007, Mexico’s Central Bank says. It’s the first drop since the bankbegan tracking remittances in 1996.
Mexico’s NationalStatistics and Geography Institute estimates that 814,000 Mexicansemigrated to the U.S. in 2006, compared to 1.2 million in 2007.
Arnal noted that Mexico’s economy is growing, albeit modestly. Mexico’sTreasury Department reported a 1.7 percent growth rate for the thirdquarter and forecasts 2 percent growth for the year.