Guest Column
“Don’t fence me out!” say Mexicans
- By Kenneth Edmond
- The Herald Mexico
- January 26, 2006
If all of the Mexican and American errors respecting illegal immigration were laid end to end, they would extend from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the Pacific.
One of the most preposterous proposals would have the U.S. build, or rather extend, a wall along the border as the supreme deterrent to would-be trespassers. Despite evidence and expert opinion that it won't work, enabling legislation was recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and is on its way to the Senate.
Shots have been fired across the border. Within the last two weeks, two of these have fatally wounded Mexicans. Others from the Mexican side were directed at U.S. border patrol agents.
Sadly, there's plenty of political hay to be made in both countries from hysteria over the long-simmering quarrel. That's partly because immigration is not a stand-alone issue. It's mingled with worries about the cross-border drug trade and the terrorist fears that grip sizable sectors of the U.S. public.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has apparently forgotten that he is a former undocumented immigrant, is cashing in on fears that terrorists might join Mexicans seeking work. He calls the California-Mexico frontier a "high-risk zone."
President Vicente Fox has forgotten about rule of law and describes illegal immigrants as "heroes." One U.S. congressman — obviously not the brightest light in the chandelier — even suggested that while they are at it, the U.S. might as well build another wall along the "undefended border" between the U.S. and Canada. (Don't forget the Alaska-Yukon frontier: Those crafty Canadians might sneak across on snowmobiles and dogsleds!).
Given the diplomatic slap in the face the wall represents, the popular but unproductive anti-U.S. card is sure to be played by candidates in Mexico's presidential election campaign.
Central and South American countries have joined Mexico in deploring the Fortress America mentality. Central America, even more than Mexico, depends on remittances, which last year totaled more than $8 billion dollars. Mexico's larger economy took in more than $20 billion.
Clearly, there are plenty of errors, emotion, and plain silliness to go around. Both nations must share the blame for this disgraceful state of affairs.
Mexicans rightly criticize Americans for hyperbole about border security and complaints about illegal immigrants draining the social welfare system, even as they continue to hire and underpay those who get through.
But the U.S. is right too, to point out that illegal immigrants are, well, illegal. They're also correct to observe that the problem would never have arisen if Mexico's governments (federal, state, and municipal) had, for generations, devoted more resources to nation-building and development and less to supporting, legally or otherwise, members of the political class and their families and friends.
If they had, there would be more decent-paying jobs at home and fewer unemployed and underemployed Mexicans desperate for a better life.
As U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza said last week, of course the United States has the right to build a wall. He should keep in mind that it wouldn't exactly be a sign of progress for his government's hemispheric diplomacy. It would symbolize the deterioration of relations between the two nations.
Whether the severely flawed U.S. proposal for a guest worker program is politically feasible is uncertain. How much political capital is President George W. Bush prepared to spend to get it passed? How much would he need? So far, no one on the Mexican side has dared to propose measures that would actually discourage illegals from crossing the border. On the contrary, the government has published not one but two brochures providing advice to those who intend to do so.
It's not as if the two nations are enemies. They are important trading partners with huge two-way investment flows, so there's a powerful incentive to sort things out.
Despite all the rhetoric, Andrés Rozental, head of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, says day-to-day co-operation between Mexico and the United States on non-immigration issues — public health, trade, and law enforcement, for example — has never been greater.
The U.S. needs a sensible framework to deal with the reality of the millions of Mexicans working illegally there. Whether they do more harm than good is academic: They are there.
To keep its people at home, Mexico must develop policies that create more jobs with decent wages and a modicum of security. Its perpetual stability-at-any-cost economic policy is like constructing a building without ever finishing the stage of ensuring a sound foundation.
Business has a role to play, too. Many employees in enterprises large and small work under conditions of low pay and unjust labor practices of varying degrees of legality that Dickens would recognize. With few jobs available elsewhere, quitting is simply not an option for most of these workers.
In a perfect world, the three partners of the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) could convert their accord into a customs union, allowing a free flow of labor. That will not happen soon, but it's past time to turn down the rhetoric. Cool-headed negotiations between two friendly countries should yield a solution that satisfies both sides.
- Whatever that solution may be, building a wall isn't it.
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- Kenneth Emmond is a freelance journalist and economist who has lived in Mexico since 1995. Kemmond00@yahoo.com
- Article at: http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/web_columnas_sup.detalle?var=28153
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