It may have gotten a boost from Mexico's drug trade:
[E]xperts who have studied the impact of drug money say it is undeniable that in a tough economy, trafficking has helped boost employment and economic growth in the state’s border regions, from the Rio Grande Valley to Laredo to El Paso. "It does play a role in the life of many people," said Jay Garcia, a sociologist at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg who grew up in a migrant farm labor family in Starr County in deep South Texas. Drug money "trickles down to the drivers, the ‘mules,’ the leg breakers, people in all positions."
(Photo: Border Patrol agents carry a bale of marijuana after it was seized from a smuggler near the Mexican border on May 27, 2010 near McAllen, Texas. The Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol sector, which patrols about 300 miles of the border, is on track to seize around 1 million pounds of marijuana this fiscal year. By Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The Dish 
