Mexican immigrants moving back home amid sour economy
Many leaving Chicago, hit by job losses
By Oscar Avila | Tribune correspondent
10:50 PM CST, December 24, 2008

ZINAPECUARO, Mexico — Once again, the immigrants are returning to this town in their Pathfinders and Escalades with the Illinois license plates, trunks full of Christmas presents.

Their annual December homecoming has always been a victory lap of sorts, a testimonial to the success they enjoy in the U.S. and want to share with relatives who welcome them with open arms.

Rafael Garcia is back from Chicago too, but not for a vacation. He's back for good.

In a sign of how the American dream has lost its luster this Christmas season, the stream of Mexicans making holiday visits has been joined by a trickle of citizens returning permanently to towns like Zinapecuaro as jobs disappear in Chicago and other U.S. cities.

Garcia arrived Sunday in a battered Ford van jammed not only with gifts but with every scrap of the life he built during 12 years as a construction worker on Chicago's North Side. In a gravel parking lot a block from his mother's home, Garcia's life in the Lincoln Square neighborhood was unspooled with each box he unpacked.

DVDs of " Spider-Man" and bullfighting. A power drill. A framed family portrait. A half-consumed bottle of House of Stuart whiskey.

As Garcia secured his van, his brother-in-law offered advice as if he were a tourist. "No need to worry. No one steals things around here," he said cheerily.

In some respects, Garcia was pushed out of Chicago, where he was working illegally. All but six of the 18 laborers at his construction company lost their jobs with the real estate bust. Garcia survived, but his hours were cut to the point that he and his wife barely covered rent and child care.

But the 41-year-old Garcia was also pulled home, to the mother who is already preparing the Christmas menu of lamb stew, chicken mole, tamales and punch.

"Do I regret leaving Chicago? I regret nothing," said Garcia, still looking flustered after four days on the road. "Best decision I ever made."

These personal dramas will shape the stalled debate over how to treat the 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. Although Barack Obama's election has revived hopes of a legalization plan, most experts are skeptical, given that the same economic crisis is battering U.S.-born workers.

Mexican officials, meanwhile, are bracing for more Rafael Garcias and the strains that might be felt on villages accustomed to sending immigrants and receiving a share of their paychecks in the U.S., a figure that topped $25 billion last year.

The cracks in the system had already been felt in Zinapecuaro, a town in northeast Michoacan, the state that by many estimates sends the most immigrants to Chicago.

The state of Michoacan has seen remittances falling steadily since 2006, a danger because it receives about $2.5 billion a year—about one-sixth of its total revenues—from workers in the U.S.

With immigrants facing a financial squeeze in the U.S., state officials estimate that 20 percent fewer citizens will return home for holiday visits.

The strains add a hint of melancholy to normally joyous holiday celebrations, such as the rodeo known as a jaripeo that bustled on the outskirts of town.

As an 18-piece banda musical group took a break, an announcer toasted a crowd of spectators in White Sox caps and Bulls jerseys. Most Zinapecuaro natives migrate to northern California or Chicago's western suburbs, especially West Chicago.

"Welcome to the people joining us from America!" he shouts.

Renato Bonilla cheered a mention of Chicago as he ambled down the bleachers. The West Chicago man lost his job as a construction worker, and now the bank is foreclosing on his home.

Even with the problems, the legal immigrant isn't considering a permanent return to Mexico. His wife was born in the States, and their two children are U.S. citizens.

"We just came down to visit, to escape all the stress up there," Bonilla said. "It's hard there, but over here, it's a lot harder."

With immigrants like Bonilla earning significantly more in the U.S., many immigrant leaders and experts question the likelihood of a large-scale influx back to Mexico.

But, while acknowledging the difficulty of accurately counting illegal immigrants, researchers theorize that tougher Immigration laws and a souring economy have caused at least some reverse migration to Mexico. And enough warning signs exist that Mexican officials are readying for a larger influx.

"We have to treat this as an opportunity, not a threat," said Fernando Robledo, who directs the migrant assistance office in Zacatecas, which is helping returning immigrants certify their U.S.-acquired job skills.

One twist is that the fruits of Mexican immigrant labor have made a permanent return home more appealing.

Mexicans in Chicago have pooled their money to pave roads, stock classrooms with computers and even build greenhouses that supply jobs to the Zinapecuaro area.

When Garcia left Zinapecuaro, the area around his mother's home was an abandoned field. Now it is a bustling street full of homes built from U.S. paychecks.

Garcia built his own home too, which gives him confidence that his family will survive, even though he doesn't have a job yet.

"There is a street in Chicago, near where I lived, called Pulaski. You see Mexicans on the corner looking for work, more than ever," Garcia said. "Here, I don't have to pay rent. I don't have the same bills. We will be fine here."

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