Mexican town will feel crunch

BY ALEXIS CHARBONNIER World Correspondent
Sunday, October 28, 2007
10/29/07 at 11:53 AM

Watch a slide show and read all the stories in a series on the immigration of thousands of people from Casa Blanca to Tulsa.

Read all of the Tulsa World’s coverage of House Bill 1804.

CASA BLANCA, Mexico — Every migrant and every family returning to Casa Blanca is a short-term injection of cash and happiness and a long-term drain of dollars and hope in this dusty high-plains town.

Mayor Gustavo Bernal said wire transfers to Casa Blanca are down 10 percent, but they could be down as much as 50 percent if more families return to the town from Oklahoma.

‘‘There’s no benefit to the migrants’ coming home. Eighty percent of families in Casa Blanca depend on wire transfers, so if half the migrants come home, then 40 percent of our families will be in crisis.’’

At the same time, a state-mandated 5.5 percent rise in gasoline prices goes into effect on Jan. 1, leading to across-theboard increases on all goods and services.

And the drought-blighted land no longer produces much of anything.

Fatima Soriano, a medical school resident serving the town, said before the immigrants left for the north most sold their plots of land, so they have nothing real to return home to.

Lilia Esparza, the town nurse, agreed the returnees will come home with a few Oklahoma dollars in their pockets and higher expectations, but no resources.

‘‘They’re not going to readily accept a return to poverty,’’ she said. ‘‘They didn’t buy anything or invest in anything with their dollars.

‘‘They’re just coming home with their kids in tow. What about all the people who owe money? What about those who owe car payments?

‘‘Paradise is over,’’ she said. What kind of town will migrants be coming home to?

Mayor Bernal pulls no punches. ‘‘People are going to start stealing,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re all afraid. Casa Blanca is going to become a Wild West town. ‘‘Some migrants are going to come home addicted to drugs. Where are they going to get the money from? We know they picked up some very bad habits in Tulsa.’’

Shopkeeper Maria Elena Gaytan, said migrants are going to be coming home to crumbling, empty, burglarized houses.

‘‘There’s not going to be enough to go around here,’’ she said. ‘‘What are we going to eat? How are we going to go back to the way life was before, making tortillas on wood fire griddles? ‘‘Can you imagine what it’s going to be like when they all come home?’’

Esparza is worried about a budget crisis at Casa Blanca’s health clinic, pointing out that the child population increased by nearly 12 percent in the month of September alone because of the reverse immigration.

She believes that when migrants return home to Mexico, a lack of opportunities and lower social status will lead to depression, schizophrenia, drug addiction and suicide.

The immigrants could also bring back a Tulsa legacy of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure and HIV.

The town clinic is incapable of treating these conditions, and townspeople will have to trek to the general hospital an hour away.