Mexican migrant workers face extortion on return home for Christmas

Published: 2003-12-11

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- After finishing work for the year at a factory in Houston, Rodrigo Cruz set off for the long drive back to his home on the outskirts of Mexico City, looking forward to spending Christmas with his loved ones. But Cruz's dream went sour when police in central Mexico stopped his car and said they would send him to prison since he didn't have the right paperwork for the expensive presents he was bringing to his family. In the end, Cruz said he paid a bribe of 5,000 pesos (US$447) and gave the police half the gifts in order to go free. "I am ashamed of what I did. But I was scared of what they would do to me. They had guns and were very threatening," said Cruz, a thin 32-year-old who has been working in the United States for five years. In the month of December, an estimated 1 million Mexicans return from the United States to spend Christmas with their families. Every year, there are numerous reports of these migrant workers being robbed by criminals or extorted by police on the journey home.

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