In Salt Lake, Luis Montoya said the first time he came to the United States was in 1983, and he lived and worked in Dallas for four years. He lived in Salt Lake from 2000 until he left this summer.

Montoya and other immigrants are following a 130-year-long history Zacatecas has of exporting workers, says Miguel Moctezuma Longoria, professor of development studies at Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, speaking through an interpreter.

It started with a crisis in mining, which had driven the state's economy. Mine workers started leaving, mainly for California and Texas, he says.

Moctezuma says the decline in Zacatecas' population has been accelerating in recent years and fewer migrants are choosing to migrate back and forth, as they have historically. The number of municipalities, or counties, that are losing population is on the rise. In 1990, 22 were losing population, and by 2005, that had grown to 42, he says.

"That is more than 70 percent of the municipalities of the state," Moctezuma says. "Mostly, the same municipalities have been losing population, and people are leaving for good."

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Contributing: Jerry Johnston and Lee Davidson

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com

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