Mexico Sad Return of the Prodigal Sons

Mexicans make up more than half the estimated 4 million indocumentados, or undocumented aliens, who will be affected by the U.S. Immigration Reform and Control Act that took effect last week. Not surprisingly, their countrymen bitterly criticize the new law, which will force many illegal workers to return home, as discriminatory. Even President Miguel de la Madrid has expressed disdain for the legislation. Said he: "Let's see what the United States has to say when it needs workers." Among the President's concerns: the flood of Mexican workers that could inundate Mexico as jobs become increasingly scarce in the U.S. The sudden tide of returnees is likely to have a serious effect on hundreds of towns and villages across the country. To assess the potential impact, TIME Correspondent John Moody traveled to the central Mexican town of Huandacareo (pop. 15,000). His report:

Each week the knot of men who spend the day hanging out in the central plaza grows. The older ones, their heads invariably protected against the searing spring sun by white straw hats, mutter occasionally to one another, then lose themselves in the local paper. The younger ones, several of them wearing BORN IN THE U.S.A. T shirts, banter loudly and watch the girls go by. Their burgeoning numbers are the first sign that the flow of Mexicans seeking jobs and a better life in the U.S. is beginning to reverse itself. American cars with license plates from Illinois, California, Texas and Washington State are parked on nearly every street.

Those who have come back with cash are spending it freely. Gossipmongers say that the local bank has recently changed as much as $40,000 to pesos in a single two-hour period. One beneficiary of the windfall is the telephone company. Residents boast that they make the highest per capita number of international phone calls in Mexico. Almost all are to the U.S. There has been a shift in culinary habits as well. Rafael Tema Chavez, who runs the Licha restaurant when he is not at his second job as principal of the town's grade school, has recently added ham and eggs to his menu in case any of the returnees develop a hankering for American-style food.

Huandacareo is bracing for an invasion against which there is no ready defense: thousands of its own citizens returning from north of the Rio Grande. The president of the municipal council, Enrique Gonzalez Martinez, estimates that 25% of the town's inhabitants now work in the U.S., most of them illegally. By sending home some or all of their pay, they keep a steady stream of dollars flowing into the local economy. Their absence has taken pressure off employers, who, like many in economically straitened Mexico, have no jobs to offer. If Gonzalez's worst fears prove true, some 3,000 people may arrive in the next eight months. Says he: "The future of our town depends upon the failure of your law." The 300 or so early arrivals have already found that their prospects in Huandacareo are not bright. The few who accumulated small nest eggs in the U.S. are rapidly depleting them, to the delight of local merchants. Says Jorge Manriquez, the proprietor of a bicycle shop: "They come in and buy a bicycle, spare tires, everything. It's good for business now, but I wonder what it will be like in six months."