These types of articles are why the Houston Chronicle is slowly going out of business

Reversing course for survival
As jobs in the U.S. dry up, immigrants return home to work for a fraction of the pay — and many never leave Mexico at all
By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
March 28, 2009, 10:26PM

First of two parts

SAN MIGUEL de ALLENDE, MEXICO — A few miles outside this Mexican resort city, Jose Nicolas Pichardo laid the stone foundation of a new store.

The 56-year-old is glad to have the job, but he makes a fraction of the $11 an hour he earned in Texas.

The 56-year-old is glad to have the job, but he makes a fraction of the $11 an hour he earned in Texas.

“I was working in Houston doing stonework like here, but at apartments,â€