I keep reading over and over how cruel we Americans are. Emotional blackmail is continuously used on us. We are constantly being told about the values of family life of the Mexican people. How dare we Americans deport illegal Mexican aliens. We are causing these children to live in fear, splitting families up.

I started thinking of my trips to Mexico in the 70's and all the children, begging in the streets. Then I started remembering all the news articles showing these poor homeless children. Children abandoned, fending for themselves. Where were the parents, where were these families then? I did a little research and here is some imformation I found published as late as 2009.

Mexican street children facts & statistics
Mexico City has 1,900,000 underprivileged and street children. 240,000 of these are abandoned children. (Action International Ministries)
In the central area of Mexico City there are 11,172 street children. 1,020 live in the street and 10,152 work there. (City of Mexico/Fideicomiso, Report, 1991)
In 1996, the Inter-American Development Bank and UNICEF estimated there were 40 million children living or working on the streets of Latin America--out of an estimated total population of 500 million.
Begging - Some 20% of the children survive by begging, 24% by selling goods, and others by doing subcontracting work. ("Over 5 Million Child Laborers in Mexico", Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September 2000, citing National System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF), "Prevention, Attention, Discouragement and Eradication of Childhood Labor")
8-11 million children under the age of 15 years are working in Mexico. (US Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children, 1994, citing US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1993)

Murder, consistent abuse and inhumane treatment are the "norm" for these children, whose ages range from six to 18. They often resort to petty theft and prostitution for survival. They are extremely vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. An estimated 90% of them are addicted to inhalants such as shoe glue and paint thinner


http://www.mexico-child-link.org/street ... istics.htm

I wonder are these children now grown; the members of drug cartels or are they the new generation of illegal aliens in the United States? Is this why I cannot relate this new generation to the Hispanics I knew and loved in my youth?