[dragonwriter]

> The US gets the wrong impression of Mexico from the immigration to the USA. That immigration is disproportionately undereducated, rural farmers.A thriving middle class has tended stay in Mexico.

Actually, lots of Mexicans have complained about the enormous brain drain of the Mexican middle class into the USA; while undereducated rural farmers may be disproportionately represented in illegal immigration from the US to Mexico, legal immigration (which is, even considering the not-inconsiderable expenses that often associated with illegal immigration, in practice as I understand it more resource intensive) from the US to Mexico (and some of the illegal immigration, as well) is educated professionals, especially those with family in the US, moving here because the pay they can get even taking a big step down in prestige compared to the positions they are qualified for in Mexico is enough to not only live better in the US even accounting for the higher cost of living, but also provide surplus after that to improve quality of life for a lot of their family living in Mexico (plus, give more of their family the opportunity to eventually legally immigrate to the US, through family-based immigration visas.)

The uneducated, rural farmers get more attention in US media coverage of immigration, perhaps because they are overrepresented among illegal immigrants (which is usually the focus of media coverage), and perhaps because they are better fodder for emotional images (both those seeking to provoke sympathy for the poor and those seeking to provoke fear of the unwashed masses).