Would you rather your kids end up working for the cartel, or worse, becoming a product in possession of the cartel? Would you rather them watch you starve to death because you can only afford to feed them? Remember that your perspective is probably limited if you've only been exposed to the reality of life on our side of the border. It's much more common for the men to go before the rest of the family and send money back home while they break their back building new homes. I'm sure there are situations where that's the start of the plan but then Dad dies/goes missing/ends up in jail/says fuck 'em and finds a local broad to get his papers. Then mom's stuck at home not receiving that money and have to make a choice on where to go now. She can only afford to pay a coyote for one ticket. What do you do ? ? ? I'm brown so I know how desolate things can become. I haven't seen my fathers hometown in over two decades because every single time we went back there to visit things would be worse. So it might not make sense to you but remember that these people are not given many options. They play the hand they are dealt.