Wealthy Mexican nationals make their home in Sonterrey

Jose Ramos, 55, who relocated from Monterrey, owns and runs a San Antonio restaurant called Via Mia. Some of his clients, like Maritza Vazquez, left, have also moved from Monterrey and are now living in San Antonio. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

March 22, 2013 2:45 PM PT

Well-heeled immigrants have regrouped in gated developments in several Texas cities, where their growing influence has remade the areas in which they reside.

Pepe Hurtado moved to San Antonio when the classic car business he owns in Mexico City dried up. He says Mexicans no longer want to show their wealth for fear of being a target of kidnappings and violence. He just bought his second Porsche at a San Antonio dealership. “I don’t have blood in my veins,” he says. “I have Mobile 1 (oil).” (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

A public school bus makes a stop in the Highland Homes community north of San Antonio, where many public elementary schools are going bilingual to accommodate the influx of Mexican students. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

San Antonio real estate agent Ana Sarabia, who caters to new immigrants from Mexico, attends a business owners meeting at the Sonterra Country Club. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

San Antonio resident Julio Bruno helps do the rock work for a new home in the Stonewall Overlook area of Highland Homes. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Ana Rodriguez, 10, and her brother Romero Rodriguez, 13, live in the Sonterra area of San Antonio after moving with their parents two years ago. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Ana Rodriguez, 10, waits for the morning school bus in a gated community in the Sonterra area of San Antonio where she now lives with her parents. Riding a bus to a public school is new for Ana, who attended private schools in Monterrey. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Members of the Asociacion de Empresarios Mexicanos meet at the Sonterra Country Club. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)