Monday, June 14, 2010

 

Bitter Debate over Immigration at U.S.-Mexico Meeting

 

By Enrique Méndez

 

Campeche, Mexico, June 12. – The 49th US-Mexico Interparliamentary Meeting had tense moments today, when California Republican Representative Brian Bilbray disparagingly referred to Mexico as "the backyard patio" [and] warned that his party will not let immigration reform pass.

 

"Migration is a privilege, not a right. My family came from the other side of the Atlantic, not by way of a land border," he let fly.

 

The phrase, according to deputies and senators, led to criticism by [Mexican] lawmakers from the PRI and PT, as well as a distancing of the [U.S.] House Democrats present, who also repudiated the implementation of Arizona's SB-1070 Law that criminalizes illegal migration.

 

PT Deputy Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that if both countries fail to reach an agreement on the subject the bilateral relationship is rotten.

 

In the private afternoon meeting, titled "Migration and Well-being, [the] situation of migrant communities in the United States," Bilbray (who voted in favor of building the border fence and has said that an illegal immigrant can be identified by the clothes he/she wears) defended the application of the Arizona law with the argument that it will not cause racial discrimination.

 

In contrast, the chairman of the delegation of U.S. Members of Congress, Ed Pastor, a Democrat from said state, questioned the rule by ensuring that migration is not a state matter, but federal in nature, and therefore he assured the Arizona law is illegal.

 

Nonetheless, those at the meeting recognized that the members of congress who defend the need for an agreement on the issue face the rejection of their constituents, including those of Mexican origin, when seeking reelection. Before, election issues were civil rights; at other times gay rights; or the legalization of drugs. Now migration is the defining matter, he said.

 

Lawmakers consulted said that Democratic Representative Linda Sanchez, District 39, California, has spoken out in defense of immigration reform and to express her repudiation of the Arizona law. Sánchez, who has opposed bills that seek to exert greater border control and voted against HR-418, which sought to prohibit use of the matricula consular [identification card] to open bank accounts, said that there is racism in SB-1070. "Besides," she said, "Mexicans are very hardworking people," and she offered to continue her defense in future interparliamentary [meetings].

 

PRI Senator Rosario Green Macías questioned U.S. immigration corruption. Recently, she said, the U.S. government captured an important group of drug kingpins in their territory. So, when they crossed into the United States were those from immigration asleep, or had they gone to the bathroom?, she taunted.

 

The coordinator of the PRI deputies, Francisco Rojas, said that although Mexico has created much of the problem of migration, this will not be slowed with walls. Human rights are something that must be respected. We must protect the rights of migrants, he said.

 

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"Acre debate en la interparlamentaria México-EU por el tema migratorio," by Enrique Méndez, La Jornada (Mexico, D.F.), June 13, 2010; edited translation: MexiData.info