Monday, May 22, 2006
By Enrique
Andrade González
The deployment of 6,000 National Guardsmen by the
United States, to watch over its southern border with Mexico, is the beginning of an extreme security strategy that represents
a militarization of bilateral relations between the two countries.
This line of attack coincides with beliefs of ten
percent of the American people who feel that border security is one of the greatest problems the U.S. faces. This over the economy that was named the most important issue by seven percent, or terrorism as said by
five percent according to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The address to the nation by President George W.
Bush, from the Oval Office on May 15, raised border security to the same level of importance as security matters in the Middle
East, and the struggle against terrorism. Part of the message being that border
security is a top concern, and money will be allocated for manpower and technological defense similar to what would be the
case with territorial invasion. Something must be done, as the border cannot
continue to be violated by 500,000 people annually.
The announced militarizing came after it was confirmed
that Mexican President Vicente Fox had expressed his concern regarding this action to President Bush. As such, it would appear that the party most interested in denying the obvious is the Mexican government,
which will not acknowledge this failure in its foreign policy with the northern neighbor.
Not since the beginning of the 20th century have
matters reached the extreme of having to re-enforce border security with armed personnel.
National Guardsmen trained in territorial protection, who return from the Middle East and respond to orders with military
discipline but under no circumstances are soldiers.
In taking this action, the message sent by the U.S.
government is that due to the Mexican government’s inability to create enough jobs for its citizens, and because of
its inefficiency in controlling illegal emigration, the only option is to protect the border with walls, triple fences and
whatever else is needed. And it has done this so adeptly it has the Fox government
applauding, and ineptly thinking that this is a first step towards the integral legalization of migrants.
Of course with the announced measure, the United
States is exercising an internationally recognized right to protect its borders and fight illegal immigration that no government
or nation could oppose.
Yet these measures, to protect the U.S. homeland,
are being taken to fence off a partner, friend and supposed strategic ally at a crucial political time for Mexico. This with the approach of the July 2 elections, and the high political and electoral costs the actions
represent to President Fox, his government and his party.
The Mexican government, far from justifying
the measures and calling them by false names so as to avoid the political costs of reality, should be concentrating on respect
of migrant workers’ rights, which are recognized in the United Nations’ International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, mainly in two articles.
Article
9 states: “The right to life of migrant workers and members of their families shall be protected by law.” And Article 10 says: “No migrant worker or member of his or her family shall
be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
One thing is to try to assimilate the border situation with a belligerent situation, however it would be quite another
to allow migrants to be treated like prisoners of war. Care must be taken with
limitations on activities that will be carried out by members of the National Guard or soldiers who will come to support the
U.S. Border Patrol, as has just been pointed out in statements by Human Rights Watch.
It is both foreseeable and desirable, as much by Mexican migrant communities as by society and the government, that
this militarization will be accompanied by other legislative measures that will allow legalization of migrant workers who
are already in the United States. This is why President Fox will visit the western
United States during the latter part of May.
If the U.S. Senate leaves this other part of immigration reform pending, the Mexican president will have fallen into
a trap by applauding that which is seen worldwide as a hostile and less than friendly act – something that has not been
seen for at least 100 years in the U.S.-Mexico relationship.
Enrique Andrade, a Mexico City-based attorney and business consultant, writes a weekly
column for MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at enriqueag@andradep.com.
