Mexicans Are Pouring Back Into U.S. After Leaving Years Earlier
In a small town, a second generation decides whether to leave.
Ixmiquilpan, Mexico, has been transformed by emigration. The region depends on money from abroad, and remittances totaled $160 million last year.
Photographer: Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg
Swelling numbers of Mexicans are heading north across the border, propelled by a deep economic crash and drawn by promises of a stimulus-fueled resurgence in the U.S.
Since the middle of last year, the number of monthly apprehensions at the southern border of working-age Mexicans traveling without children has more than doubled to around 40,000, from fewer than 16,000 during the prior two years, in part because of repeat attempts, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. If the rate keeps up, 2021 could see the most Mexican apprehensions in a decade.