[ikka]

"My children are studying, and they need pencils. They don't have enough money," he said. Ramirez makes $6.75 an hour plucking tomatoes six days a week, and sends two-thirds of his wages to his family while he sleeps under a tarp tied to trees. It's a slim return on the $2,000 he paid a smuggler to sneak him across the border last summer.

Time to do the math ...

$6.75 (no taxes taken out) * 10 hours per day ($67.50) * 6 days per week ($405) * 4 weeks/month = $1620 or so per month.

His family gets 2/3rds or about $1000 per month, which in Mexico is a FORTUNE.

Assuming he worked 6 months so far, he has earned 6 * 1620 = $9720 with virtually no expenses other than food. That is a pretty good return on $2000 in smuggler expenses. He has already sent back as least $6,000 to his family.

[radar101]

John and Ken had Vicente Fox's first campaign manager on one day.
Among other things he said was that a close friend of Fox has a monopoly on communications.
On money wired to Mexico, the "Friend of Fox" takes FORTY PER CENT.
SO- the family gets $600.