In 2009, Mexico experienced the largest decrease in money sent home by migrants ever recorded by Mexico's central bank. Remittances from migrants working primarily in the United States dropped by nearly 16 percent.

Mexico is heavily dependent on these cash transfers, which total billions of dollars and represent the country's second-largest source of income after oil exports. The decline hit rural areas particularly hard.

In some villages in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, almost half the residents live and work in the United States.

Empty House, Dreams On Hold

The village of El Alberto, tucked into the rugged, cactus-covered hills of Hidalgo, is miles from the nearest city. In El Alberto, large American-style homes that could have been erected in subdivisions outside St. Louis or Atlanta sit next to cinder-block shacks.

But many of the big houses aren't finished — some are just shells, and some are abandoned construction sites. These houses represent the dreams of Mexican migrants, and for many families the dreams are currently on hold.