By Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera*
Sep 30, 2024, 10:00 AM EDT
Although it is a primary issue for the country and even more so in the Mexico-United States relationship, little has been said recently regarding the future of Mexican immigration policy in the “Second Floor” of the Fourth Transformation (Q4). .
Claudia Sheinbaum has been brief in this regard and it seems that she is rather waiting for the result of the November general elections in the United States to outline a clear policy and establish a position on this issue from the Mexican government. It is striking how little interest seems to have generated this very fundamental discussion among the new president’s team. It is also surprising that a government that holds itself out as a staunch defender of the sovereignty of Mexico, of the countrymen in the United States (who contribute so much to our country with remittances) and of minorities in general, has been so lame, timid and servile in the face of the demands of the United States on this very important issue.
The balance on the immigration issue for the López Obrador government is not exactly positive and its performance in this area seems to be more dark than clear. In reality, the Q4 government has generally adhered to the demands of its northern neighbor and has adjusted its immigration policy based on what has been imposed on it from Washington. On the other hand, there was no strong progress in defending the rights of Mexicans in the United States; Nor was it possible to influence any specific policy of that country to provide more legal certainty to our compatriots.
Mexican immigration policy has several aspects because it is a country of origin, transit and destination for migrants.
In these last six years, very little progress was made in the defense of the rights of migrants (Mexicans and foreigners), but it did help in a very special way to advance the agendas of big capital and the United States government in its policy. double-faced—apparently schizophrenic, but very convenient to the interests of its economic elites who require an inexhaustible source of cheap labor without rights. That is, Mexico, once again, did the dirty work for its northern neighbor and continued to serve as its “backyard.”
The government of our country accepted, without question, the “Stay in Mexico” program (the Migration Protection Protocols or MPP); sent the National Guard to the southern border and expelled migrants from its territory when the neighboring nation demanded it; In addition, he entrusted the armed forces with surveillance on migratory routes. It should be noted that during the 1st Floor of Q4, the Mexican government spent countless resources to advance the agendas of the United States on immigration matters, without receiving much financial support from that nation and in exchange for a little independence to make internal decisions in the framework of the meteoric advance of the Morena party.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Democrats and Republicans pretend to fight and differ on the issue, but in reality they put on a crude show to maintain the status quo. That is to say, the alleged fight between American politicians on both sides maintains a paralysis or legislative stagnation that leaves no option other than deferred action on deportation—through asylum requests. Meanwhile, that country has an inexhaustible source of young and highly motivated labor, who have passed the toughest physical tests to make America Great. Meanwhile, asylum seekers do not accumulate seniority, nor do they have access to the benefits that would be theirs by law, if the system allowed them to regularize their immigration status.
The American immigration system—and the global one in general—operates with the same logic that benefits elites and big capital, while politicians of all ideologies put on a crude show that leaves millions of people defenseless. At the same time, countries like Mexico or Morocco surrender their sovereignty and operate as backyards of empires or as vassals of large capitalist interests. Let us remember that Mexican immigration policy is not designed in Mexico City, it is made in the United States and dictated from Washington DC
That happened before and it happens right now. These trends are expected to remain stable in the second half of Q4. It is possible that Francisco Garduño—the controversial director of INAMI who is still in his position, although he faces a judicial process for what happened at the immigration station under his command in 2023, where 40 foreign migrants died locked up—will remain in his position. until November, to wait for orders from the new person who will take the baton of command in the neighboring country to the north. It is until then that President Claudia Sheinbaum is expected to make explicit Mexico’s immigration policy—which, as we see, is always “made in America.”
The Dr. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera
is a professor at the Schar School of Politics and Government at George Mason University.
The texts published in this section are the sole responsibility of the authors, so La Opinión does not assume responsibility for them.
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