There IS a Silver Lining

Looks like there is a silver lining to the economic meltdown:

"With bad economic news and rising unemployment, some Latin American immigrants are giving up on America and going back home. The size of the exodus is difficult to discern. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, census data suggest that more than one million illegal immigrants left last year, even before the economy began its downward slide. Other sources believe the numbers are still only in the thousands. Immigrants who have made some kind of life here know that if they leave, returning would probably be impossible, so they hang on. Money sent back home by Mexican immigrants is one measure, at least, of falling employment. In 2008 remittances to families in Mexico fell for the first time since recordkeeping began 13 years ago, dropping from $26 billion in 2007 to $25 billion, according to Mexico's central bank. Remittances are important to Mexico -- they are second only to oil as a source of foreign income." Patriot Post, February 13, 2009