Rural Mexicans Hope US Immigration Reform Means More Money Sent Back Home Joshua Partlow - The Washington Post
go to original November 26, 2014

Dr. Sinforiano Armenta, the mayor of Tepetongo, in an empty restaurant in town. (Joshua Partlow/The Washington Post)

TEPETONGO, Mexico — To Sinforiano Armenta, the mayor of a disappearing Mexican town set on sweeping plains of cactus and brush, President Obama’s immigration plan means paved roads.

It means drainage systems, covered basketball courts, clinics, and a welcome arch to greet visitors to his town of 7,000 people, which has lost three-quarters of its population since the 1970s. Just this year, the diaspora from this town in the northern state of Zacatecas has sent home $80,000 to put toward such projects. And the way Armenta sees it, if those people have legal documents, better jobs and higher incomes, they will send back even more.

“This will help our families have a better quality of life,” he said.

Political leaders in Mexico and Central America, which account for most of the undocumented immigrants in the United States, have praised Obama’s unilateral push to defer the deportation of millions of people. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto hailed the plan as the “most important measures taken in several decades.” Among undocumented immigrants, feels are more mixed. The experience of tiny Tepetongo shows some of the reasons why.

The town has a quiet, desolate feeling: empty chairs in the restaurants, houses locked and abandoned. Armenta is a family doctor whose office is across the street from city hall. He was named mayor after his predecessor shot himself. Armenta tries to stay positive, but he knows it’s a losing battle to get residents to stay.

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