Posted on 12/04/2001 8:03:20 AM PST by citizen
On a day that work seemed unlikely, several day laborers milled around a Duluth labor hall, waiting for jobs to walk through the door.
The illegal Mexican immigrants profess to a range of skills, from painting to carpentry to whatever handiwork falls in between.
But little or no work, thanks to a precipitous economic downturn before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, it means Marcos Morales and others will forgo their traditional trip to Mexico for the holidays.
"No money," said Morales, when he and other job-hunting laborers at Duluth's Calvary Christian Fellowship Church were asked whether they'd be heading south for Christmas.
"I don't work. . .because of bin Laden," said Morales, a 20-year-old handyman with family in Mexico City.
Every year, Mexicans and other Spanish-speaking immigrants travel home in the fall, then stay a few months before returning to the United States for jobs in cities like Atlanta. Because of the slowing economy and heightened security, though, the holidays will be a less festive affair as many laborers are forced to stay put.
Vigilant border patrols since Sept. 11 increase the chances of men like Jose Garduno, 25, being detained, deported or jailed.
Garduno, who learned English by watching movies and reading magazines, said it's a climate he and others plan to avoid.
"The borders --- there are tighter controls," Garduno said, as several laborers nodded in agreement. "These men --- they are all staying here for the holidays. Last month I watched TV news about people crossing the border. It's even more difficult. "
Historically, tighter borders have failed to halt the flow of immigrants traveling to and from Mexico, and that leads Teodoro Maus, the former Mexican consul, to speculate that fewer decent jobs are causing some to cancel trips.
The busiest time of the year for travel to Mexico is Easter, the summer and Christmas. Many Mexicans start returning to American cities in February and March.
"End-of-the-year holidays are a very, very important part of the family structure," said Maus, president of the Mexican-American Business Chamber. "The men want to spend it with their fathers, brothers and sisters. The economy is making people think twice about traveling. And when there are no jobs, people eventually will return home" permanently.
The National Migration Institute in Mexico recently reported that more than 350,000 Mexicans returned home after Sept. 11, and about 150,000 more are expected to go home soon, the Institute predicted.
The Mexican consulate in Atlanta is in its busiest time of the year as travelers buy matriculas --- laminated cards that identify the holder as a citizen of Mexico. Many nationals purchase the $27 IDs before returning home.
In October, the consulate issued 4,573 matriculas, a 46 percent increase from the same period a year ago. Consulate officials say they expect to surpass last year's figure when 31,513 matriculas were issued. So far this year, 26,277 matriculas have been issued.
But it's unclear locally whether Mexican travelers are going home for the holidays or returning to Mexico permanently, said Remedios Gomez Arnau, the current Mexican consul.
Arnau said surveys taken along the U.S.-Mexico border will help differentiate who's on holiday visits and who's returning for good, but that information won't be available until early next year.
"There's definitely been an increase in the demand for matriculas since the Sept. 11 attacks, she said. "The main reason for that is that [the Mexican nationals] don't want to be confused as terrorists. Secondly, they may realize they need more IDs to get on an airplane and go back to Mexico. But we really don't know right now who's staying or coming back."
We get crap like this most every day now in the AJC: "Poor migrants....." "Poor unwed teen mothers....."
TN is my home state, we need conservatives back in control.
No more drugs & we need all these jobs for real Americans now.
Create jobs by searching them all.
Private sector with LE oversight just like the Repubs proposed for the airports, except don't cave this time.
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