Immigrants' return to Mexico alters Santa Ana

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER ^ | Nov. 12, 2011 | CINDY CARCAMO

[Pelham]

First of two parts

For more than 20 years, natives of Guerrero, Mexico, have sought a better life in the U.S., with many of them settling in Orange County, especially in Santa Ana. Lately, what was a one-way wave of immigration has reversed. The slow U.S. economy and an unprecedented number of deportations have led many of those immigrants to return to Mexico. Orange County Register staff writers Cindy Carcamo and Michael Mello detail the phenomenon in a two-part story. These stories were made possible by a UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism grant that was funded by the Rosenberg Foundation.

Part 1: Immigration shift drains Santa Ana Legal and illegal immigrants leaving the city for Mexico spark changes to Orange County's second-largest city.

Immigrants' return to Mexico alters Santa Ana O.C. family returns to a violence-plagued Mexico Part 2, Coming Sunday, Nov. 20 Mexican village serves as purgatory for the deported.

For more than a quarter-century, volunteers at Obras de Amor Food Bank – staffed and funded by a Spanish-speaking megachurch in Santa Ana – dished up meals for hundreds of thousands of people annually, distributing food to a network of more than 30 organizations in Orange County. However, four years ago the economic free fall, paired with tougher anti-illegal immigration laws and sentiments, sparked an exodus at Templo Calvario church, according to Executive Pastor Lee De Leon. About 15 percent of his parishioners – some U.S. citizens and others in the country legally and illegally – began to leave the country, which led to a reduction in the tithings that had helped fund the food bank. Those who stayed couldn't give as much as before and, in 2009, the church shut down the food bank. "It was very impactful, very emotional that they couldn't give like they were...

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Pelham.

Immigration shift drains Santa Ana Legal and illegal immigrants leaving the city for Mexico spark changes to Orange County's second-largest city.