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<blockquote data-quote="Babagounj" data-source="post: 733559" data-attributes="member: 12952">Immigrant exodus: Lack of jobs has Mexicans headed home&nbsp; By Francis X. GilpinStaff writer&nbsp;RAEFORD — Arizona officials say they are overrun&nbsp; with Mexicans. In Hoke County, though, Mexicans seem to be heading home –&nbsp; and some business owners miss them.&nbsp;Raeford mobile home park owner Isidoro Basurto said scores of Mexican&nbsp; families have re-crossed the border in the past year, resigned to&nbsp; tougher immigration enforcement and a bad economy north of the Rio&nbsp; Grande.&nbsp;“I can tell you, 99 percent of the people that move from this mobile&nbsp; home park, they go back to Mexico,” Basurto said.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Mexican departures may be subtly reshaping the demographics of&nbsp; Hoke County and other North Carolina communities where, until recently,&nbsp; Hispanic immigrants were recruited for demanding but low-wage jobs in&nbsp; farm fields and meat-packing plants – jobs that Americans have shunned.&nbsp;Business owners who cater to Hispanics bemoan the slumping sales that&nbsp; have followed the sad farewells of customers.&nbsp;“They usually come by and say bye,” said Raeford mobile-phone&nbsp; retailer Xiomara Ruckel, who sells 80 percent of her calling plans to&nbsp; Spanish-speaking people.&nbsp;El Ranchero, a Mexican grocery store in Lumberton, used to be a&nbsp; well-known spot for immigrants to find anything from fresh produce to&nbsp; the latest Mexican music CDs.&nbsp;Now it’s the place to buy a one-way ticket back to Mexico – with&nbsp; buses departing seven days a week.&nbsp;“Nobody wants to give us steady work,” Dagoberto Garcia said in&nbsp; Spanish as he waited with four other men under the shade of an awning.&nbsp; “For many years, places like the meat-processing plants and farms&nbsp; welcomed us with open arms. Today, they won’t even let us on the&nbsp; premises to apply for work.Store owner Enrique Mendoza said the lack of work for undocumented&nbsp; immigrants at the meat plants owned by Mountaire Farms LLC, House of&nbsp; Raeford Farms Inc. and Smithfield Foods Inc. has made it impossible for&nbsp; the men to stay.&nbsp;“I’ve sold thousands of bus tickets over the last two years,” Mendoza&nbsp; said. “Many of these people were customers for over a decade.”</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Babagounj, post: 733559, member: 12952"] [B]Immigrant exodus: Lack of jobs has Mexicans headed home [/B] [B]By Francis X. Gilpin Staff writer[/B] [B]RAEFORD — [/B]Arizona officials say they are overrun with Mexicans. In Hoke County, though, Mexicans seem to be heading home – and some business owners miss them. Raeford mobile home park owner Isidoro Basurto said scores of Mexican families have re-crossed the border in the past year, resigned to tougher immigration enforcement and a bad economy north of the Rio Grande. “I can tell you, 99 percent of the people that move from this mobile home park, they go back to Mexico,” Basurto said. The Mexican departures may be subtly reshaping the demographics of Hoke County and other North Carolina communities where, until recently, Hispanic immigrants were recruited for demanding but low-wage jobs in farm fields and meat-packing plants – jobs that Americans have shunned. Business owners who cater to Hispanics bemoan the slumping sales that have followed the sad farewells of customers. “They usually come by and say bye,” said Raeford mobile-phone retailer Xiomara Ruckel, who sells 80 percent of her calling plans to Spanish-speaking people. El Ranchero, a Mexican grocery store in Lumberton, used to be a well-known spot for immigrants to find anything from fresh produce to the latest Mexican music CDs. Now it’s the place to buy a one-way ticket back to Mexico – with buses departing seven days a week. “Nobody wants to give us steady work,” Dagoberto Garcia said in Spanish as he waited with four other men under the shade of an awning. “For many years, places like the meat-processing plants and farms welcomed us with open arms. Today, they won’t even let us on the premises to apply for work. Store owner Enrique Mendoza said the lack of work for undocumented immigrants at the meat plants owned by Mountaire Farms LLC, House of Raeford Farms Inc. and Smithfield Foods Inc. has made it impossible for the men to stay. “I’ve sold thousands of bus tickets over the last two years,” Mendoza said. “Many of these people were customers for over a decade.” [/QUOTE]

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