The fate of ‘Dreamers’ resonates in Mexico

The fate of the so-called Dreamers has resonated deeply in Mexico, the birthplace of the majority of the estimated 800,000 immigrants who have benefited from the Obama administration program.

Many were brought to the United States as minors by parents or relatives during a boom in illegal immigration before enhanced enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border slowed the illicit movement of Mexican nationals into the United States.

In his State of the Union address on Saturday, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto made an unusual reference to the recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

Speaking from the National Palace in Mexico City, the Mexican president declared: “I send affectionate greetings to the young beneficiaries of the administrative measure that protects those who arrived as infants to the United States. To all of you, young dreamers, our great recognition, admiration and solidarity without reservations.”

Mexico has rejected the Trump administration’s insistence that it will pay for a new, multibillion-dollar wall on the U.S. side of the border. The Mexican government, which has a network of 50 consulates in the United States, has said it will do what it can to assist those facing deportation under the Trump administration’s get-tough policies.

But critics in Mexico have long assailed the Mexican government for not doing enough to help deportees and others trying to adjust to life in Mexico after living for years in the United States.