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CNN Live At Daybreak

Ghost Towns in Mexico

Aired September 06, 2001 - 08:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Mexican president, Vicente Fox, wraps up his visit to Washington today. He'll address a joint meeting of Congress later this morning.

Last night, Mr. Fox and his wife were guests of honor at the White House. The president and Mrs. Bush hosted 130 guests at their first state dinner. The two presidents have been talking about a possible immigration agreement, one that would include a guest worker program.

Now as Harris Whitbeck reports, Mexicans who come to work in the States leave their towns virtually empty of people, but not of money.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're a migrant worker on your home to Susticacan, this is the first thing you see as you drive into town. "Welcome back," the billboard says, "to the land where you were born."

But as you approach the town center, you won't find a large welcoming committee. More than three-quarters of the population has left this small hamlet in the state of Zacatecas, to work in the United States.

"Most of the people from here are over there," says 77-year-old Francisco Diaz. All the young men have left. Those left behind are senior citizens, women and small children.

(on camera): But what looks and feels like a ghost town is actually quite prosperous. Migration patterns that have endured for decades and that have intensified in the last few years account for the lack of people and for the apparent wealth.

Susticacan is filled with large two-story homes, and there is a construction boom of sorts. New, fancy houses are going up all the time: built by the dollar sent back by migrants working in the United States.

So who lives in them? For 10 months out of the year, nobody.

Angelica Castro recently remodeled a house she inherited from her great grandmother. She uses it once a year during the town fiesta. The rest of the time she lives as an illegal migrant in Los Angeles, California so her three children can get an American education.

ANGELICA CASTRO, MIGRANT (through translator): The thing I like about it over there is that they learn more things that will be useful to them when they grow up.

WHITBECK: Every year about 28,000 people leave the state of Zacatecas to head to the United States. Ghost towns like Susticacan are everywhere: towns that show prosperity but don't have the people to enjoy it.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Susticacan, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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