Reversing the Flow of Mexican Workers

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Mexican high school students in the town of Mineral de la Luz practice giving a tour. They have been training as tour guides hoping to get funding to start attracting people to their community near the city of Guanajuato.

Photos by James Hider

Mexican high school students in the town of Mineral de la Luz practice giving a tour. They have been training as tour guides hoping to get funding to start attracting people to their community near the city of Guanajuato.

Photos by James Hider

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In the rural village of El Gusano, women put their savings in a toolbox. The small bags are sewed by them and have their names stitched on.

In the rural village of El Gusano, women put their savings in a toolbox. The small bags are sewed by them and have their names stitched on.

Mexico sends more immigrants to the United States than any other country; some estimates put the figure at 400,000 each year. But some Mexicans are working to stem the flow of migration from where it originates, trying to resuscitate towns abandoned by able-bodied workers.

The movement of Mexicans northward into the United States has turned some areas into literal ghost towns; in many others only women and small children have been left behind. Communities are being torn apart as their most able workers leave to find jobs.