Rich Mexicans are establishing parallel lives in Houston, working on business visas, buying homes, sending their kids to private schools. They are motivated in large part by a desire to live free of threats of kidnapping, ransome and even murder that are routinely directed at wealth Mexicans back home. - NY Times, 9/16/07

ANA LUISA SANCHEZ MACCISE, a Mexican citizen, is neither seeking a path to American citizenship nor living a fitful undocumented existence. Yet she lives and works in Houston, where she sends her son to a local private school. She has another home in Mexico City, where her husband still works. He visits his family in Houston regularly.

Mrs. Maccise is among a small but growing group of Mexican citizens who are creating parallel lives in this sprawling city north of the border; Dallas and San Antonio are other cities of choice.

Their motives are more than economic. They are also seeking a safe haven for themselves and their families, away from the threats of kidnapping, ransom and even murder that are routinely directed at wealthy Mexicans....