Some migrants are swapping their American dream for a Mexican one

Walter Banegas, 28, originally from Honduras, works at the Pace Industries aluminum injection molding plant, his formal job after settling in Mexico as a refugee, in Saltillo, Mexico, October 16, 2023. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

SALTILLO, Mexico (Reuters) - On a recent factory shift in the northern Mexican city of Saltillo, Honduran refugee Walter Banegas extracted a steaming-hot piece of molded metal destined for a street lamp from a die-casting machine.

Banegas, 28, said he first fled to the U.S. as a teenager to avoid being recruited by a powerful drug gang, only to be deported in 2014. He re-entered planning to seek asylum in 2020, and was deported again.