U.S. farmers short on migrant workers move to Mexico

MEXICALI, Mexico (Reuters) - Like other California vegetable growers, Larry Cox oversees hundreds of Mexican farm workers picking green onions, asparagus and cauliflower in the fertile Colorado River valley.

But this farm is not in California, where illegal immigration raids are causing labor shortages and strict environmental regulations are increasing costs.

Instead, Cox's farm is just south of the border in Mexico where he can hire workers at a tenth of the cost.

Americans are farming some 50,000 acres of land in Mexico and employing 11,000 people, in spite of high crime, suspicion of outsiders and doubts back home about Mexican food safety standards.

The Bush administration's clampdown on undocumented workers and tighter border security means the flow of Mexican workers to California is drying up, Cox said.