Mexican border town gearing up to deal with returning migrants

Associated Press
Jan. 14, 2008 11:43 AM

"YUMA - Officials in a Mexican border town are weighing their options for dealing with the large number of migrants that they expect to see returning to Mexico as Arizona's employer sanctions law takes hold.

The officials in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico, across the border from San Luis, Ariz., are looking at the possibility of establishing a city-run assistance center for repatriated immigrants, Mayor Ruben Espino said.

They're also looking at an alternative idea of allocating city funds for the city's existing Casa del Migrante, an immigrant shelter also under city jurisdiction, Espino said.

The mayor said he would prefer to put more funding into the existing shelter since that would appear to be less costly than creating and staffing an assistance center.

Espino said the city will need financial assistance from Mexico's federal government to handle the anticipated influx of immigrants, who sometimes remain homeless in cities across the border from the United States after their deportations.

Espino and officials in other Mexican border cities have predicted the Arizona law will cause a reverse wave of migration.

Under the law, which took effect Jan. 1, businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants could have their licenses suspended for up to 10 days. Second-time violators would have their business licenses permanently revoked."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 14-ON.html