Brandon Brewer, AP
Mexicans mull leaving N.Y.C. in aftermath
EFE -
Published September 28, 2001
MEXICO CITY - Thousands of Mexican immigrants in the United States are thinking about returning home following the terrorist attacks that shook the world's most powerful nation on Sept. 11, officials here said.
Juan Hernandez, head of the Office of Mexicans Abroad, said Wednesday that while many immigrants have inquired about the steps necessary to return to Mexico, "there are no lines" outside Mexican Consulates in the largest U.S. cities.
Hernandez attributed the immigrants' desire to return to Mexico to the shock provoked by the attacks against New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, and said he was confident that the situation will return to normal gradually.
Although Mexican officials have not reported a decline in emigration to the United States, civic organizations noted that there has been a significant decrease in the number of illegal crossings since Sept. 11, due both to the attacks and to increased border security.
President Vicente Fox's administration has said that only 14 Mexicans died in the attack on the World Trade Center, but Tepeyac, a New York Latino organization, has identified 25 Mexican victims and estimates that more than 500 others worked in the two towers.
Francisco Villanueva, spokesman for the Topos (Moles) rescue team which traveled to New York to help in the rescue operation, said that at least 500 Mexican families now living in that city want to return to Mexico immediately and forget the "American Dream." ...
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