MIGRATION-MEXICO: US-Mexico Border an Open Wound

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Eduardo Molina y Vedia

MEXICO, May 22 1996 (IPS) - Mexico, disturbed at the increasing rate of death or injury to illegal immigrants trying to enter the United States, is seeking a re-examination of international migration policies.

Researcher Rodolfo Tuiran Gutierrez, of Mexico’s National Council on Population says that the fact that immigration is a top campaign issue in the current U.S. election process, should not delay a complete a thorough analysis of the problem.

“Mutual accusations will not advance the tackling of a process which could be handled very productively,” he said.

Tuiran Gutierrez said the formation in 1995 of a bilateral group of specialists to study migration problems, had been a good start but added a more comprehensive review was still needed.

A regional meeting is due to be held later this year in Puebla, 127 kilometers from the Mexican capital, as a follow-up to accords reached there in mid-March by representatives of U.S. and Central American governments. About 70 percent of migrants to the United States come from Mexico; the rest are from Central America, and to a lesser extent, from South America and Asia.

The position adopted in Puebla, beyond the bombast and lofty promises, followed Washington’s hard-line “legalistic” approach with the emphasis on strong measures to counter illegal migration.

According to Jose Pescador, Mexico’s consul in Los Angeles, at current rates the number of immigrants and their descendents in the United States reach 130 million in the year 2050, a third of the predicted population of 390 million.

Pescador quoted official reports that seven million people born in Mexico now live in the United States. Of those, 5.5 million are legal residents and more than 20,000 Mexicans become U.S. citizerns every year. The total Latin American population in the United States is more than 25 million, approximately ten percent of the total. It increases at a larger rate than the national average.

Because of the difficulties in documenting a basically clandestine activity, however, U.S. immigration statistics vary widely.

For example, estimates by the immigration authorities of illegal immigrants are higher than those of their Mexican counterparts. The U.S. estimates a total of 2.5 million undocumented immigrants while Mexico estimates the number at one million less. The U.S. estimates 500,000 illegal entrants a year while Mexico estimates 300,000.

Even the definitions of who is an illegal immigrant may vary. Many so-called undocumented workers are responding to the call for workers as the criss cross the border of 3,200 kms.

The United States’ presidential campaign has exacerbated an anti-immigrant phobia among right wingers in the Republican party, but also in Democratic administration of President Bill Clinton. This comes despite a spate of human rights violations of undocumented migrants – some videotaped – that led to the death or injury of would be immigrants and caused diplomatic protests.

Congress has now passed a law that would exclude illegal immigrants and their families from receiving basic services like health care and education although many immigrants work in jobs shunned by U.S. citizens, at salaries and benefits lower than those mandated by law.

Still the undocumented migrants manage to earn enough money to send remittances to Mexico that total some 4 billion dollars a year. Remittances are also a major source of foreign exchange for Central America.

According to the Northern Border School, based in the frontier town of Tijuana, Mexican immigrants produce added value of 30 billion dollars and earn salaries of 16 billion.

A recent report estimated that every year sees one million attempts at illegal entry of the United States – most of which are unsuccessful. The report also states that there are about 3.5 million people who move back and forth from one country to another.

The study revealed that the type of economic activity that migrants perform has changed substantially. ten years ago migrants mostly worked in agriculture but now 32 percent are employed in industry, 29.8 percent in business and services, and only 16.3 percent in agriculture.

Some 85 percent of those who return to Mexico expect to obtain a job again in the United States – which explained why seven out of ten migrants have crossed or attempted to cross the border at least five times, the report said.