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Illegal Mexican aliens lose welcome as economy dips



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Nonetheless, most knowledgeable observers do not sense the same kind of anti-illegal alien backlash that surfaced during the last national recession in 1974 and 1975.

"The mood is very different now," says Leonel Castillo, former commissioner of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service and now a consultant in Houston.

Mr. Castillo said in an interview that while many Americans want tighter controls on illegal Mexican immigration, "they are more conscious that we cannot simply get rid of all the [illegal] Mexicans now in the United States, and that they have become vital to our economy."

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There are an estimated 3 million to 6 million illegal aliens in the United States. If these undocumented workers hold jobs at the expense of legal residents, they could be responsible for roughly half the nation's unemployment rate.

However, economists familiar with the alien labor market generally agree that many of the undocumented workers now take jobs that are low paying or that for other reasons are not attractive to US citizens. Therefore, this reasoning goes , the aliens are a necessary labor force.

Despite a deteriorating US economy, most experts do not foresee a lessening of illegal Mexican immigration in the short term. Wages remain substantially higher in the United States than in Mexico and the relative prosperity of the US Southwest border region will continue offering job opportunities.

In addition, US economists see a continuing high number of Mexican farmers seeking new employment. Agricultural output was hit hard last year by a drought that has continued into 1980, although there has been some rain recently.

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