Last week, President Joe Biden spoke by phone with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) to request his collaboration and contain the migratory flows that cross into national territory from Guatemala with the intention of reaching the United States.
Within the framework of this call, AMLO invited President Biden to send a delegation to the National Palace today, Wednesday.
The US delegation will be led by Foreign Secretary Anthony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and National Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
The Full Rights Coalition for Immigrants in Los Angeles, led by yours truly; and the Coalition for Work Permits for Undocumented People of the city of Chicago, headed by social leader Elvira Arellano, we will hold demonstrations in front of the respective Consulates General of both cities to deliver a letter addressed to the president of Mexico.
The objective is to ask the president that in exchange for blocking the Guatemala/Mexico border, he proposes to Biden that he grant Mexican workers temporary legal permission in the form of TPS, Deferred Action or “Parole In Place.”
We understand that no Mexican immigration policy should be formulated without considering its geopolitical implications as an essential factor, as well as the border security of this nation.
Our approach considers that the political and economic cost for Mexico would be unacceptable if it adopted a policy contrary to the immigration containment interests of the United States.
It is clear to us that on the issue of immigration, President López Obrador has played an astute game of checks and balances, and only in this way has he been able to reduce the enormous pressures and sanctions against his Government that the US is undoubtedly capable of.
However, the fact that in a few months President AMLO will pass the presidential baton to the first female President in the history of the nation, and given the fact that it does not seem feasible that he will summon representatives of the Mexican community, residing abroad , to talk about urgent matters of great interest to all of us, we are forced to take advantage of this situation to ask you not to fail us, and to propose to President Biden that temporary work permits be extended to undocumented workers.
We make this request with the assurance of having the consensus of the majority, or all, of Mexican immigrant workers.
Biden campaigned during 2020 asking for our vote, promising in return that there would be immigration reform during his administration. Today this reform seems very far away, instead, we are seeing a head-to-head between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden to define which of the two is the most anti-immigrant.
With almost three years as head of government, President Biden has not only failed to deliver the promised immigration reform, but he has not even extended legal relief to workers with irregular status.
It is clear that the war conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as the growing tension with China over the Taiwan issue, are the problems to which the American president dedicates the most time.
In this sense, President Biden has asked Congress to approve a budget for 110 billion dollars to provide economic and military assistance to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and various intelligence agencies of the nation. In response, the Republican majority in the Lower House and its minority in the Senate have demanded a significant tightening of immigration policy aimed at undocumented workers.
Given the lack of progress in approving the budget, Biden made public his willingness to consider “significant concessions” on immigration matters if this could lead to the approval of his economic request.
After marathon negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, it has been reported that an agreement between both parties is about to be announced.
The key points that concern us the most are two: first, workers with irregular status may be arrested and deported expeditiously/expressly/super-fast from any part of the nation, as long as the people cannot demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the law enforcement officer, who have been residing and working in the US for two years or more.
The other part has to do with the White House’s willingness to restore the disastrous Title 42, through which former President Donald Trump “expressly” deported countless people without giving them the opportunity to request asylum.
For four decades, immigrants who live, work, and pay taxes in the United States have not been given a temporary work permit. So, with what face could we ask Latino voters to vote for the re-election of President Biden in 2024.
I believe that given the impossibility of the president of Mexico meeting with the representatives of the Mexicans in the United States, and given the fact that his counterpart Joe Biden has not been able to advance any progress on immigration matters, both of them would benefit greatly by extending temporary employment permits to workers. This event would be interpreted by many as a kind of rebirth of the “good neighbors” policy that should always govern the bilateral relationship, but both leaders would go down in history as true statesmen, and not as mere Presidents. The community is attentive to your decision.
Juan
José Gutiérrez is the executive director of the Full Rights Coalition for Immigrants.