SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The annual Mexican Christmas pilgrimage, traditionally a joyous journey culminating in pozole stew and Nativity re-enactments, is now fraught with fear and foreboding.

About a million Mexican immigrants are expected to return to Mexico this month to share the holidays with relatives they left behind years ago.

Most are driving. And many, including Sacramento State freshman Alex Rodriguez, wonder if they’ll make it to Christmas dinner without being robbed, shot or kidnapped.

“”My mom doesn’t want me to drive down there,”” said Rodriguez, 18, who was born in Mexico and raised in California. “”My uncle was shot to death at 11 a.m. at a carwash in Choix, Sinaloa, in August. My mom said if you’re in the business of drugs, that’s your destiny.””

But the menace reaches beyond the drug cartels. The violence that’s claimed more than 28,000 lives in the last four years has spread to Mexico’s highways, where bandits — many posing as state or federal police — have robbed cars with U.S. plates.

It has also seeped into the lives of local immigrants and their families. Some who planned to open businesses south of the border gave up when ordered to pay for protection. Others have seen their real estate investments in Mexico plummet. Several say their relatives have received phone calls threatening to kidnap their American cousins for ransom.

And nearly everyone has heard stories of cars hijacked or stopped unless the drivers pay bribes.

The Mexican government recognizes the challenges of navigating roads through the drug wars and for the first time has created a network of government escorts and way stations to help guide and protect passengers traveling home for the holiday season.

Caravans of five or more vehicles heading into Mexico, particularly the violence-torn states of Sinaloa and Tamaulipas, can receive an escort if they register their routes with the Mexican government.

“”Nearly everyone’s somehow affected by the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime — they’re trying to co-opt our institutions and eroding our freedoms by intimidation,”” said Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Sacramento’s Mexican consul general.

“”We are urging people not to drive at night, to use federal highways as much as possible instead of local roads, and not to travel with cash; people can use credit cards on federal toll roads.””

But fewer people are making the trek back to his town, Rodriguez said. “”Last Christmas, only 50 percent went back.””

Although he’s had two family members killed in recent years, and three others shot, Rodriguez will be driving down anyway.

“”That’s a sure thing,”” he said. “”I have to visit my family. I’m not going to leave them behind and forget about them.””