Recent immigration raids have raised fears of deportation among 3 millions of undocumented Mexican migrants living in the US. However, it may be good news for Mexican call centers.

The booming industry is in need of English speakers to service US customers, and mass deportation could send record numbers of Americanized Mexicans back to the country, reports The Guardian.

Among the Mexican call center companies in need to recruit people who understand American culture is Americas Survey Company (ASC), which with its sister company Voxcentrix has 450 call center stations in Tijuana. 

Employing native English speakers who understand American culture gives Mexican call centers an edge over rivals in India and the Philippines in a competitive, billion-dollar global industry.

Call centers here already employ thousands of people deported under the Obama administration. They do market research, sales and technical support for companies such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Toyota. Their English can be so fluent and idiomatic that customers assume they are in the US.

Call centers post flyers on the noticeboards of migrant shelters where deportees usually spend their first nights after expulsion. The flyers promise dollar commissions, bonuses and benefits, such as free coffee and cookies. Wages are about $100 a week.

Only in Tijuana, there are now more than 50 call centers employing more than 10,000 people.

Call centers can be a lifeline for deportees who arrive broke, disorientated and disconnected from families in the US. Some of those who left Mexico as infants barely remember the country or speak Spanish.

As reported in The Guardian.