Burning Atlanta

Not too much add. Not sorry to see them go and hopeful the word wil spread. "Don't go north."

Have a nice trip.

Two hours were enough for José Luis Sánchez and his family to pack their most valuable belongings in two vans – items accumulated in 10 years of living in the Dallas area.

With his wife, children and their suitcases in place, Mr. Sánchez closed the door of his Mesquite apartment for the last time, sat at the wheel of one of the vehicles – his brother drove the other – and hit the road back to his homeland.

So ended his decade-long adventure as an illegal Mexican immigrant in the United States.

According to Mexican consulate officials in Dallas, some 400 immigrant families have told them so far this year that they're going back to Mexico and asked for transfer documents to enroll their children in Mexican schools. Humm, how many to a family? Mommy, daddy and the 2 little gate-crashers. So, figure about 4 per family, times  400 families, so far this year, and that equals 1600 gate-crashers doing the two-step. Multiply that by a hundred cities and you've got something meaningful.

So far in 2008, more people (752) have visited the Mexican consulate in Phoenix to apply for transfer documents than the total for 2006 (248) and 2007 (330) combined, according to officials there.

According to informal surveys by the Mexican consulate in Dallas, most of those wanting to return to Mexico cite the sudden scarcity of jobs, fear of deportation and uncertainty about obtaining legal resident status any time soon.

Carl Rusnok, spokesman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Dallas, said deportation of Mexican immigrants nationally has grown from 108,900 in 2005 to 136,370 last year. 136,000 deported and another 150,000 leaving on their own? Could that be? Nawww, I would have to do my happy dance and you really don't want to see that.

"We're going to continue living by the day, for sure," he said. "But psychologically we're going to be better. With our family, without fears, without pressures. It's worth the difficulties." Excellent. No reason to live in fear in a hostile environment when you can leave. *S*

And, he added, "The American Dream is just that – a dream."