Frontera NorteSur February 2000

"Jarochos Live Here Like Slaves;" Scam Victims Tell Their Story

Hundreds of poor villagers from the state of Veracruz are currently stranded in Ciudad Juárez after falling victim to a scam in which they left their homes for the promise of jobs paying "800 to 1,000 pesos per week" in the border city.

"We live like dogs," said some of these "jarochos" (Verucruzanos) in a special report published in El Norte de Ciudad Juárez.

Some live in cramped, filthy quarters--in one building, 50 people share the same bathroom--provided by the agency which allegedly deceived them and still charges them rent. The majority are living in the streets, where city officials say they are easy prey for the drug culture. "The young teenaged boys and girls are consuming a lot of drugs and liquor," confirmed one Verucruzano.

The agency, Viajes Túristicos Tirado, allegedly sent a man to the small towns of northern Veracruz state who showed people there "several months of classified ads" of maquiladora jobs in Juárez, promised them work and housing, then bused them to the border for a fee. Months later (as of December), the majority of these people were still unemployed and living in squalor in the agency domiciles or nowhere at all.

The Verucruzanos were willing to be photographed in their agency rentals, but no one would give El Norte their real names for "reasons of security."

Juárez Mayor Gustavo Elizondo sent a letter to the governor of Veracruz asking him to warn his citizens about these deceptive practices. Anonymous Verucruzanos said the salesperson who "recruited" them was named Adalberto Prado, whom El Norte confirmed works for Viajes Túristicos Tirado. The agency is managed by Luis Cabellero and is located in the Casas Tamsa neighborhood.

The villagers said they left Veracruz because there was almost no work and what little work there was paid about 30 pesos per day (less than $3 U.S.).

With the exception of the boom cities in the industrial north, most of México is in economic crisis. Veracruz villagers who four years ago might have scraped by doing manual agricultural work in sugar cane fields are now in desperate straits, and are coming to Juárez at the rate of 300 to 400 persons per day. Most of them have little education or skills and are looking for "the lowest paying jobs."

Despite the horrible conditions the Verucruzanos now face, "the majority said they would prefer to deal with the problems here than return to their native Veracruz," according to the El Norte report.

50,000 Migrants Pouring Into Juárez Every Year

These Verucruzanos are part of the nearly 50,000 Mexicans who migrate to Ciudad Juárez every year, according to an extensive demographic study completed by MUND Opinion Services in coordination with the Dallas Morning News and El Diario de Juárez. More than 60 percent of those current Juárez residents were born somewhere else.

The study estimated the current population of Juárez at 1.3 million, compared to 798,000 nine years ago. The last decade has seen a geometric rise in migration--5.4 percent every year--mostly in response to the rapid growth of the maquila industry, according to the study. "The social schema that one can envision for the future is a very diverse schema, one that corresponds to the rise of globalization," said demographer Manuel Loera.

The MUND study showed that 73 percent of all migrants come from other towns and cities in the state of Chihuahua, and 27 percent from the rest of the country. Of the latter, most are from the northern states of Durango, Zacatecas, and Coahuila. However, significant numbers also come from such south-central states as Puebla, The Federal District, Hidalgo, and Veracruz.

From the 1960s through the 1980s, more women than men migrated to Juárez. This trend is beginning to change due to the large numbers of men coming from south-central México.

Sixty-three percent of all Juárenses have family living in the United States (typically from Texas, Colorado and California), according to the study. A little more than half of all Juárenses--51 percent--said the city was a nice place to live. Only six percent held the opposite opinion; the rest did not know or did not answer.

When asked to describe the "principal characteristic" of the city, 25 percent responded that "In Juárez one can always find work." Sixteen percent said "the night life," and only 14 percent chose "violence."

In the 21st century, said Loera, commerce and population will center on five Mexican cities--Juárez, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Tijuana, and Monterrey. The urban culture created by "this system of cities" will be quite different than "what we know right now," he said.

Elizondo: Juárez Needs Money To Cope With Migration

Juárez Mayor Elizondo has expressed concerns that the current infrastructure of the city is being overwhelmed by the hundreds of new people arriving daily. On December 6, he went to Mexico City with other border mayors to lobby the legislature to create a plan that would generate a "migration compensation fund" for the beseiged northern cities.

"We definitely need more monies in next year's budget to help provide necessary services such as water, street lighting, drainage," he said on December 19.

El Diario reporter Alberto Ponce de Leon predicted that as long as the country's economic crisis continues, Juárez will continue to see great numbers of migrants. "Some of these migrants come to Juárez with the intention of crossing the Rio Bravo to realize the 'American dream,' but when they learn how difficult that will be, they decide it's better to live in México, on the border," he wrote.

Verucruzanos Face Difficult Adjustment

The majority of migrants, being from the northern desert region of México, find Juárez mostly familiar. However, the newer migrants from the south, such as those from Veracruz, must cope not only with a modern city completely different from their peaceful, close-knit villages along the tropical gulf coast, but one with an entirely different culture.

"Their type of music, their way of relating to one another, their intimate family life is very different from what is developing in this region," wrote El Norte reporter Rosa Isela Pérez.

"Ciudad Juárez is a very faraway place, not only in terms of physical distance, but also in terms of traditions," concurred Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez (UACJ) sociology professor Manuel Arroyo. "For these Verucruzanos, arriving in Juárez would be like arriving in the United States, it has the same impact, especially considering that they have been taken in by the ideas and schemes of con artists."

El Diario estimates there are 35,000 to 50,000 Verucruzanos living in Ciudad Juárez, but unlike the larger and longer established communities of migrants from the north, they do not yet have their own distinct neighborhoods where their traditions and customs are kept alive.

"The question is, 'where is the neighborhood for Verucruzanos?' These migrants are casualties of a moment when the city doesn't have room to absorb them," said Arroyo. The professor also stated: "The predicament of these workers leaves them socially vulnerable."

El Diario reported December 20 that some of the stranded jarochos had found work in maquiladoras, while others were seeking work in restaurants, bars, and nightclubs in the tourist zone downtown.

University of Texas at El Paso Study Predicts Immigration Rate Will Decline

In a related story, a report issued by the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) predicted that immigration from Mexico to El Paso will decline as business performance in Mexico improves.

"Borderplex Economic Outlook: 1999-2001," written by UTEP professor Tom Fullerton, noted that the number of Mexican immigrants flowing into El Paso hit its high point in 1994--the year of Mexico's sudden economic collapse--with 7,109. After a "spike" in 1997, the number of immigrants fell sharply to 3,394 in 1998. Fullerton's report projects a further decrease to 2,664 immigrants by 2001.

According to El Paso Times reporter Mike Mrkvicka, "In El Paso, net migration statistics are meaningful because they speak to the relative performances of the economies in México and the United States."

Fullerton also predicts that while maquiladora job growth in Juárez "will remain very rapid for the foreseeable future," there are indications that the peak of that growth is over.

Juárez is "close to being saturated in terms of industrial and demographic infrastructure," he told The Times.

In addition, Fullerton said, "We really haven't studied the degree to which migrating to Juárez is an intermediate stage before coming up here."

The reports states that in 1998, total maquila employment in Ciudad Juárez surpassed 200,000.

Sources: El Paso Times, El Norte de Ciudad Juárez, El Diario de Juárez