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Mexicans in US fear violent Mexico
Poverty and joblessness aren't the only factors keeping Mexican immigrants in the United States from returning to their home country. Now they have another reason -- panic over the high levels of violence, a result of the so-called "war on drugs" launched by President Felipe Calderón.
Of the more than 16,205 murders committed in Mexico during the Calderón administration, the majority has occurred in the states of Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Baja California, Durango, Michoacán and Guerrero. The most violent year in the last decade was 2009, with 7,724 murders, in addition to a spike in kidnappings (mostly committed by drug traffickers), reaching 111 per month.
Luis Carvajal, a 30-year-old immigrant from Sinaloa, says he feels very "sad" over what is happening in his state. "All my relatives who are there," he says, "tell us the violence has reached a degree they've never seen before."