Making the Great Escape

Mexico's economic crisis is not just a matter of concern for big-city bankers. It has also hit Maria Luisa de Lopez, the mother of seven children, who has illegally crossed the Rio Grande in search of a day's work as a maid in El Paso. Said she: "Potatoes, beans and chili peppers—that's all we can afford to eat. There's no meat, eggs or milk for us. I'm giving my children only one meal a day."

Mrs. de Lopez is one of a record number of illegal immigrants pouring daily across the 2,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexican border in...

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