California Criminal Lawyers Blog

Research from the Centers for Comparative Immigration has been used to publish a book, "Mexican Migration," which takes a fascinating and troubled look at the immigration issue from the Mexican perspective. The book blames the U.S. economy -- and not immigration enforcement -- for the reduction in the number of Mexican immigrants crossing the border into the United States.

Our Orange County immigration attorneys continue to meet with families concerned about the new Arizona immigration law and the increased attention the California governor's race has brought to the immigration issue.

A review of the book published by the Huffington Post, argues that the lack of jobs in the U.S. has postponed immigration. But that the migrant way of life is ultimately unhealthy for the Mexican people.

The research was conducted in a small village called Tunkas, in the Yucatan's north-central region. Residents in the town of 2,600 began migrating to the United States in the last 20 years and before that worked at tourist communities on the Mayan Riviera, including Cancun and Playa del Carmen. Researchers visited every household in the community. Many families pawned jewelry and other valuables in response to the slowing economy and then lost those items as the economy failed to recover in times to retrieve them from pawn shops.

Among the largest contributions the book makes to the immigration debate is in examining the strain migration places on family relationships and the steps Mexican families take to remain close as members travel back and forth from the United States to seek work and help relieve the grinding poverty loved ones face in Mexico.

In many cases, families opted to find work in Mexico -- frequently by traveling to an American tourist destination several hundred miles away -- instead of facing the dangers and separation inherent in traveling across the border to find work in the United States.