Monday, December 25, 2006

 

Immigration Foes Need to Give Mexico a Chance

 

By Barnard R. Thompson

 

The crescendos of charges and countercharges by pro-migrant activists versus anti-immigrant advocates in the United States, while seeming to have diminished somewhat since last November’s elections, will most certainly rise once again to reverberating levels soon after the holiday period ends.  Self-appointed critics, protectors and protestors on both sides of the fence are sure to reinvigorate messages for and against undocumented immigrants set against illegal aliens (or vice versa), and too the never-ending congressional debate will rev up anew.

 

All this energy in accusations, often unrealistic demands and pipe dream solutions, rather than meaningful involvement and properly directed public pressure for realistic proposals and plans with elected officials and negotiators who might just maybe be able to resolve some of the problems.

 

So without sounding like Pollyanna, let’s try to assess if this could be a moment of opportunity with Mexico, and thus a time to turn down the rhetoric and spin.  And whether or not officials, campaigners, self-proclaimed media protectors, and all who feel strongly one way or the other might want to perhaps take a breath and see if needed changes might be accessible, this rather than just huffing and puffing.

 

A short Mexican wire service note was published on December 20 regarding Mexican emigrants, a message that to Mexicans at least seemed negative.  Speaking about the 2007 budget that President Felipe Calderón sent to Congress in early December, the headline and article read as follows:

 

“Calderón left migrants out of spending”

 

“In its 2007 Expenditure Budget project, the federal government abandoned migrants insofar as not one peso was requested for 14 of the Protection of Mexicans Abroad programs.

 

“In contrast, the Executive proposed to raise spending for the National Migration Institute by only $100 million pesos [US$9 million], plus $10 million [US$924,000] for the support program of Mexicans who face legal charges.”

 

[Stopping here for a moment, note that the US$9 million mentioned above, for migrant protection, is up from a 2006 budget amount of US$4.3 million.]  The news article continues:

 

“The Population, Borders and Migratory Matters Committee of the Chamber of Deputies asked its Budget peers for $7.136 billion [US$659 million] in additional resources in order to obtain the money absent for programs that they consider priorities, which include: support to migrants in border municipalities; scholarships for young migrants; cadaver identification; and backing for those suffering from AIDS and tuberculosis.

 

“‘Calderón’s commitment to migrants is zero pesos and zero centavos,’ denounced Deputy Edmundo Ramírez, of the PRI [Institutional Revolutionary Party].”

 

Actually Ramírez, for whatever reason, managed to leave out some important data.

 

During a visit to Nogales, Sonora on December 20, to “supervise” safeguards in the Paisano Program for Mexican’s returning home for the holidays, Calderón noted that his 2007 spending budget includes increased funds for Mexican consulates in the United States, with money earmarked for migrant services.  According to a document accompanying the budget, “The proposed 2007 federal budget contemplates a real increase of 21 percent in programs destined to buttress support to migrants” in the United States.

 

So how does this sound positive for the United States?

 

Well maybe it doesn’t, leastways at face value or going by the rule of Ockham’s razor, but could there be a message hidden in all of this?  With such reductions in funding programs, could it be a kind of tough-love-like plan?  Or could this be made into an opportunity and a new beginning for both nations to work together towards turning around the huge exodus of Mexicans to the United States, while at the same time finding reasonable ways to allow needed and wanted workers into this country?

 

Consequently it is important to look at what Calderón has been saying ever since his campaign, summarized in part in Nogales.  The following are excerpts from his speech.

 

“My government is committed to a policy of defending migrants, with a policy in the bilateral relationship with the United States that understands migration as a natural phenomenon that must be regulated, and that demands efforts by society and government on both sides of the border in order to find the unique, in-depth and long-term solution to the problem of migration….”

 

Subsequently Calderón said: “A moral and political obligation for our generation is to create conditions so that people can remain in their communities.  The only in-depth solution to the problem of migration is to multiply job opportunities nationwide….  We need to ensure that which crosses the border more is investment into Mexico, and not [workers going] to the United States.”

 

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Barnard Thompson, a consultant with nearly 50 years of experience in Latin America, is also editor of MexiData.info.  He can be reached via e-mail at mexidata@ix.netcom.com.