Illegal immigrants return to Mexico_美文_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Illegal immigrants return to Mexico

Christian Ballesteros, who has been at a shelter for immigrants in Matamoros, Mexico, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, pointed to stiffer US penalties for repeat offenders and brutal criminal groups that control the Mexican side of the border as reasons for the immigration decline. Ballesteros, who has been deported four times, was recently caught after hopping the border fence near Nogales, Arizona.

"The Mexican cartels are taking over, are actually being like the border patrols on this side," Ballesteros said. "They say: 'If you don't pay, we're going to cut your head off.' That's the worst part."

After his last apprehension by US authorities, Ballesteros was sent to a detention facility in Las Vegas for two months. He fears it could be six months, if he is caught again.

"You can lose money, but if you lose time, there's no way you can recover that time," Ballesteros said, noting that many immigrants have families to support.

Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew who co-wrote the analysis, said Mexican immigration may never return to its height during the mid-decade housing and construction boom, even with the US economy recovering. He cited longer-term factors such as a shrinking Mexican workforce.

He noted that government statistics show a clear shift among Mexican workers already in the US who are returning home. He said the numbers are a sign that many immigrants are giving up on life in the US.