Pubdate: Sat, 03 Apr 2010 Source: Brownsville Herald, The (TX) Copyright: 2010 The Brownsville Herald Contact: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/sections/contact/ Website: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1402 Author: Jazmine Ulloa MEXICAN CITIZENS LOOKING FOR SANCTUARY BROWNSVILLE - A middle-aged woman was driving along a busy street in Matamoros on her way to visit family, when she passed a Soriana grocery store barricaded by a throng of Mexican soldiers and vehicles. Gunshots cracked in the distance. She kept her eyes on the road and pressed on the gas, following what many Mexican citizens consider unspoken policy: Look away. Mind your own business. Keep your mouth shut. "These things don't come out in the newspapers," said the woman, who works as a housemaid in Brownsville and asked her name not be used out of concern for her family's safety. In recent months, she and other residents say, sporadic shootouts in broad daylight, like this one, seem to have become more common in Matamoros, once one of the quieter cities along the Texas-Mexico border. To be sure, with little trust in authorities and few reports from the media, it is difficult for Mexican residents to discern what is fact from hearsay. But to be caught in the crossfire is a legitimate fear, families say - even more distressing, is constantly seeing their schools shut down, their news outlets silenced and their streets blockaded by Mexican soldiers and military trucks. Such concerns are driving Matamoros families away from the border city and into the Rio Grande Valley, residential and commercial real estate agents said. The migration follows a steady stream of Mexican nationals, including journalists, officials and business leaders, who have relocated to the United States since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched a sweeping battle against drug cartels in 2006. But families from Matamoros have only been moving to the Valley in higher numbers since last year, real estate agents said. And some brokers noted calls from Mexican nationals had become even more frequent in the last six months. "They call and tell me, 'I need (a home) fast. I want to take my children out of school. There is too much danger here,' " said Sandy Lee Galvan, a real estate agent with Century 21 Johnston Company in Brownsville. "Many want to pay cash upfront." 'Violence escalates, migration escalates' Drug war violence along the Mexican side of the lower Texas borderline began to intensify in late February, first after a bloody turf battle erupted between the Gulf Cartel and its former armed wing, the Zetas, and now has amplified as drug cartel men increase their assaults against the Mexican army. "As the violence escalates, the migration escalates," said Mary McGowan, broker and owner of All Star Realty in Brownsville. Real estate agents are taking inquiries from Matamoros, Monterrey, Victoria and Valle Hermoso, and even from families living farther in the interior of Mexico. Many Mexican nationals are not stopping in the Valley but choosing to go farther north, to San Antonio or Austin, and even into other states, agents said. But those who do stay prefer gated communities and condos throughout Brownsville and Rancho Viejo. Near McAllen, the sweetest deals are in the Sharyland community, said Leanne Richards, broker for Trendsetters Realty in McAllen. "Everyone wants to get their children into the Sharyland school district," said Richards, who has worked in real estate in the Valley since 1994. In the past, Richards recalls few Mexican families calling in to inquire about homes in the area. When they did buy, it took time and they purchased expensive $500,000 homes, she said. Now people are buying properties costing between $80,000 to $120,000 because they want to move out soon. Many also choose to rent. "They tell me, 'We are not going back to Mexico, we are afraid,'" Richards said. The high number of asylum applications from Mexico in part shows this increase in migration. The number of people applying for asylum under "credible fear of persecution," jumped from 179 in 2007 to 312 in 2008, and increased again slightly to 338 in 2009. These figures were based on people who pleaded for asylum at the nation's southern ports of entry, according to U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. Separate statistics collected from U.S. immigration courts showed an increase in the number of asylum petitions from Mexico in the first two years since Calderon initiated the drug war offensive, from 2,793 applications in 2006 to 3,459 in 2008, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review under the U.S. Department of Justice. But the number of petitions dropped to 2,816 in 2009. Hard to keep count Nonetheless, tracking the number of people coming into the Valley, Texas or the United States from Mexico out of fear is difficult, experts said. No agency seems to be keeping count. Part of the reason is because the way Mexican families are moving into the country runs the gamut. Some Mexican nationals have double citizenship, others apply for investor visas or asylum, and some come in illegally. To judge the economic impact, thus, is much tougher. But Howard Campbell, professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso points to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as an example. Between 30,000 to 500,000 people have fled from Juarez to the United States, according to estimates based on the number of abandoned homes and the assumed number of people per household, he said. The number may be exaggerated, and it is uncertain how many of these people reside in the bordering city of El Paso, "but the impact is tangible. You can see it," Campbell said. "It is very sad and tragic but the suffering in Juarez is contributing to the economic stimulus of El Paso," he said. "There is also a cultural side. There is a sort of rejuvenation and reincarnation of Mexican culture in the United States." Many of the people fleeing Juarez are some of the wealthiest in the city and have injected a lot of money into El Paso's economy, the professor added. Business boom Real estate agents in the Valley said Mexican nationals moving in are helping keep the housing market afloat. Richards, for instance, estimated Mexican nationals to make up between 40 to 50 percent of Trendsetters' clientele in Hidalgo county. Many families also are "realizing it is a great time to make investments in the United States," said Norma Rasco, a real estate agent with Rancho Viejo Realty. "Mexican nationals are cash buyers, and in this economy, cash is king," she said. The stimulus is true of business in the Valley as well, financial leaders said. Larry Jokl, a commercial real estate agent with Brownsville Real Estate Management Company, said he helped six Mexican clients move their businesses to the Valley last year. "In the first three months of this year, I have had a dozen clientele from Mexico who have looked to locate their businesses here, two of whom already have," he said. Meanwhile, the Brownsville Economic Development Council has hosted about half a dozen prospects, or companies serious to relocate in Brownsville, from Mexico since January. On any given year, that number would have been about two, said Gilbert Salinas, spokesman for the city's development council. "A recurring theme has been that due to security issues in their country, they are now putting their plans on a fast track to break into the U.S. markets," he said. "Business men and women always have that - breaking into the U.S. market - in the back of their mind. Now they are making it a priority." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D