Drug war in Mexico causing people to stay in America during holidays
The ongoing drug war in Mexico is causing many Mexican nationals to skip their yearly trip home for the holidays.
As Mexican nationals and Mexican Americans begin to plan their holidays, many say they are choosing not to make the annual trek home to visit relatives. While some are dissuaded by the worsening economy, others are avoiding travel to Mexico because they fear the rampant kidnappings, killings and shootouts.
The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert late last month warning U.S. citizens to take precautions and to be aware of the “increasingly violent fight for control of narcotics trafficking routes,” especially in the cities of Tijuana, Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez.
Business at Transportes Intercalifornias, which runs about 15 buses a day from Los Angeles to the border towns of Tijuana and Mexicali, is already down from last year, said dispatcher Robert Bahine.
“They don’t want to go home because of the problems in TJ, all the shootings and the killings,” he said.
