Mexico Border Violence Keeping Would-Be Migrants Home

"His decision to stay behind had nothing to do with newfound job opportunities, or a belief in Mexico’s future, or even the possibility that he wouldn’t be able to find a job in Dallas, where he once worked as a cook. It was much more basic.  He feared he wouldn’t get across the border alive.  “The Zetas have done what no fence in the United States, or their billions, have been able to do, which is to stop the flow” of migrants, said Pedro “Toro,” who was afraid to give his real last name because the Zetas paramilitary drug cartel operates in the region.  “I’m not afraid of the migra,” he said, referring to the Border Patrol, “but I am afraid of being decapitated.”  At a time when the Mexican government is touting increased opportunities as the main reason for more Mexicans staying home, the reality on the ground in states like San Luis Potosí is that Mexicans are staying put largely because the journey is more perilous than ever, according to responses to a national poll and separate interviews." - Dallas Morning News, May 27, 2012.