Mexicans Flee Tijuana for U.S.

The Associated Press

By ELLIOT SPAGAT

A border city that has long watched illegal immigrants pass through on their way to low-wage jobs up north is increasingly welcoming a very different kind of arrival: wealthy Mexicans seeking refuge from kidnappings and other violence.

Francisco Villegas Peralta is among the new residents of Chula Vista, where new boulevards run past gated communities and trendy malls.

He said he knew he had to get out of Tijuana, Mexico, one July morning when three SUVs trailed him from his house through Tijuana's streets. He escaped, and moved soon after with his wife and three children to a one-story house in one of this city's more modest neighborhoods.