Mexican Ties Fade With Immigration

Mar 22, 4:09 PM EDT
By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press Writer

PURUANDIRO, Mexico (AP) -- It's hard to find a family in Mexico that doesn't have relatives in the United States. Even President Felipe Calderon says he has distant cousins, uncles and in-laws scattered in Chicago, Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, many of them living "a salto de mata," a Mexican phrase that translates roughly as "on the run."

In other words, he acknowledged that his own relatives may be violating U.S. immigration laws.

But Calderon also maintained he doesn't know their legal status - and that's plausible because the Calderon clan has lost touch with its migrant relatives, according to family members interviewed by The Associated Press.

And that illustrates another trend: As the immigration boom enters its third decade, many Mexicans have committed themselves to one side of the border or the other, weakening family ties, often forever.