Mexico census: fewer migrating, many returning

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: AP

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's newest census shows the number of migrants leaving the country dropped by more than two-thirds since its peak in the last decade, and more migrants are coming back than before.

The National Statistics and Geography Institute says the 2010 census shows a net outflow of about 145,000 Mexicans leaving the country from 2005 to 2010, the years covered by the count.

That is down from a peak of about 450,000 between 2000 and 2005, and about 240,000 per year between 1995 and 2000.

The census is held every ten years, with an intermediate count every five years.

Read more: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/6bd07219a76e4ec8a33e4ee45e6fab98/Article_2011-03-03-Mexico%20Census/id-a0b11a92724e4a2b9195d8a630d28d64

[ixion]

1. Be careful what you wish for, America

you might just find yourself having to do your own labor.

[tanyev]

2. Oh noes! How dare they destroy a right wing talking point!

[lunatica]

3. I wish I could go with them!

I miss Mexico:cry:

[jtuck004]

4. Pepsi is helping with this -

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/business/global/22pepsi.html?_r=1

Basically they are buying crops from farmers at a guaranteed and higher price, allowing them to count on something. Getting
rid of the middle-broker.

Repairing some of the agricultural links and lives we broke as we moved manufacturing into Mexico years ago, perhaps, and people won't have to resort to dangerous border-crossings just to make a few bucks more, sometimes at poverty or near-poverty levels.

[amandabeech]

5. NAFTA allowed cheap (and sometimes subsidized) U.S. corn to be sold in Mexico.

That broke the back of Mexican farmers. Some came here and some took the former U.S. jobs that went to Mexico for the cheap labor.

The jobs that went to Mexico after NAFTA continue to break the back of of American workers and their families.

Prices for grain, particular corn, have been high for several years. There really isn't much stored corn or wheat lying around anywhere anymore. Part of the problem is the 50%+ of U.S. corn fields planted to varieties suitable for making ethanol.

The other parts of the problem, and this is moreso for wheat, are that population continues to increase and farmland is not, some countries, like China and India, have more people who can afford to spend more money on food, especially on meat which is often fed with corn, and bad weather in many countries like Australia, Canada and northern China.

Because world corn prices are so high and corn is a big crop in Mexico, I wondered if Mexican farmers would be able to go home and make a go of farming again. I'm glad that they can return home.

Now if some of those manufacturing jobs would move back to the U.S. . . .