Mexico: Practice What You Preach

“It is not the desert or the mountains that kill immigrants, but U.S. migratory policy, which should be changed.” recently pontificated “Human Rights Procurator” Antonio Garcia in a recent ceremony in Tijuana, condemning Operation Gatekeeper. Harsh words they are and not to be uttered lightly. But are they true?

As an American living and working in Mexico, I understand the necessity to respect the law of Mexico, and I do. I have to have a work permit to be employed here, which must be renewed annually. And yet, I have observed that many influential Mexicans do not respect the laws of my country--such attacks on U.S. migratory policy being standard fare in the Mexican press and among Mexican politicians. Any attempt to control the U.S. border is automatically attacked.

Such critics conveniently forget to mention that thousands of Mexicans cross the border to the U.S. without incident, and that the U.S. accepts more legal Mexican immigrants than any other country does. They also forget to mention that Mexican migratory law is stricter than American law, and that thousands of Central American illegal immigrants are tossed out of Mexico each year without fanfare.

Clearly, the deaths of people in the deserts and mountains east of San Diego is indeed a tragedy. But is it really fair to blame U.S. immigration policy? On the traditional Day of the Dead, a memorial service was held in memory of those who died crossing the border. But the event was a service that utilized the dead to stage a political rally in which big guns were fired at U.S. migratory policy.

The mere existence of Operation Gatekeeper was pronounced to be, in and of itself, the cause of these deaths. Procurator Garcia’s strong comments are one example, and the bishop of Tijuana called for the end of Operation Gatekeeper.

It’s not popular in Mexico to point this out, but the people who crossed the border in dangerous places did so voluntarily and should have been aware of the risks. The U.S. government did not force them to cross the border in a dangerous area, and in fact many Mexican lives have been saved by Border Patrol agents. Given the situation prevailing before Operation Gatekeeper, I doubt that any country, including Mexico, would not have moved to control the unrestricted flow of illegal immigrants.

And there is a more basic question: Who really speaks for the interests of the illegal immigrants? Having lived in Mexico for more than seven years, I have observed that, although U.S. immigration policies are almost unanimously condemned in the press and among politicians, it’s less popular to examine why poor Mexicans feel compelled to immigrate. Why do people feel compelled to risk their lives to leave Mexico and what can be done in Mexico to improve their situation there?

Undeniably, there is a class factor involved as well. That is, middle- and upper-class Mexican critics of U.S. migratory policy would never allow the poor people who become illegal immigrants in the U.S. to enter their own private schools and country clubs in Mexico. It’s more convenient to ignore them until they get in trouble or even die in the U.S.

On the same day that I read about the Tijuana rally, there was also a story in the paper about Honduran illegal immigrants being detained and slated for deportation from the metropolitan area in which I live in Mexico. So when will there be a rally on Mexico’s southern border?