US slowdown likely to drive Mexicans workers north

TEZIUTLAN, Mexico -- As the U.S. economy heads south, Mexicans may have to head north. That's the fear of many workers here, where the slowdown in the United States already has cut production at manufacturing plants whose output is largely sold in the United States. ''If it's bad there, it will be worse here,'' said Bartolo Juarez, 35, who makes jeans for Levis and Guess at a Teziutlan factory and already has discussed moving to the United States if his job here vanishes. His 12-year-old daughter, Gabriela, has broken down in tears more than once after hearing her parents talk about her father leaving for the States, her mother said. ''It's a sacrifice. I don't want to go, but I know I can get a good-paying job in San Antonio,'' even in troubled economic times, Juarez said. It's always easier to find work in the United States than in Mexico, he added, and for five times more money.