6. International Relations & the Common Man: South American Migrants
By Leena Mohammed and Vanessa Baziquero, published July 2020
By Leena Mohammed and Vanessa Baziquero, published July 2020
Editor's note & Preface: As Coronavirus rocks the world, so does the heated debate over migrants, which face harsh conditions and an unpleasant journey in a disease-stricken world. This article accurately balances themes of isolationism with the simple issue of logistics in housing migrants, especially in South America.
Build our Own Wall? The Mexican Perspective
President Trump’s promise and mission to “build a wall” between Mexico and the United States has garnered the attention of the world. The treatment of Mexican and Latin American immigrants on the southern border of the US has horrified many and caused uproars and protests. While many blame the United States as the sole perpetrator, Mexico faces problems of its own regarding discrimination towards migrants and migrant mistreatment by law enforcement.
Mexico essentially serves as the United States’ immigration control. The country stops hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans from continuing their northern travel to the U.S. As the influx of immigrants swells, migrants face a number of challenges amid a bureaucratic system that is understaffed.
The Mexican system for analyzing asylum-seeking applicants is close to collapse. The system is understaffed and underfunded, and the earthquakes of 2017 only exacerbated the matter by briefly paralyzing the process. Thus, asylum seekers remain in detention centers for an extended period of time.
Yet, having to wait in retention centers is far from the only challenge that Latin American migrants face. Southern Mexican states, predominantly Oaxaca, Quintana Roo and Veracruz, are the main conduit for cocaine that is trafficked from Colombia, and the rise of drug cartels have led to violence. Border states experience high homicide rates as cases of kidnapping and gang activity continue to plague these areas. Latin Americans migrants living in these states have to protect themselves from criminals that seek to kill, kidnap, or sexually and/or physically abuse them. Some gangs may even raid migrant shelters.
Although the Mexican National Guard has attempted to end gang violence against migrants, many Mexican nationalists believe that the migrants themselves are the ones that incite violence and chaos. Locals have even called for Mexico to build its own wall. In a poll issued in early 2020, a majority of Mexicans said that the government should pressure migrants to leave.
Furthermore, the Mexican government implemented harsher migration policies. In January of this year, the López Obrador administration deported thousands of Latin American migrants. Although the Mexican government claims deported migrants received respectful treatment, human right activists and newspapers have reported that the national guard has grossly mistreated deportees. Meanwhile, critics of the government's cruel system have been silenced. A veteran lawmaker, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, was blocked from speaking in Congress of the human rights abuses he claimed were happening at the border. Activists have been barred from entering migrant facilities despite the fact that they were previously allowed to enter for two decades and provided assistance to migrants for that period of time.
While Mexico restricts media coverage concerning the migrant crisis, the government, under President López Obrador, implemented programs that protect migrants seeking asylum in the USA. The administration also wrote legislation that gave aid to Latin American countries to develop so as to mitigate the root causes of migration.
The Mexican government claims its migration policy is rooted in two pillars: addressing the causes of migration through humanitarian aid, and protecting the rights of all migrants. The nation condemns the practice of leaving immigrants in detention centers without resources, as the practice makes them more vulnerable and subject to harm. In fact, over thirteen thousand immigrants that entered Mexico at the southern border have been granted legal status.
Authorities claim that deported migrants are respected, and they describe deportations as "assisted returns." The National Migration Institute has even claimed that migrants are not detained or arrested, but rather “rescued.” However, Alethia Fernández de la Reguera, an immigration researcher, has said that the government, while claiming that it respects the human rights of migrants, is lying and confusing Mexicans. Thus, this government language may be merely a manipulation of public opinion.
However, Mexico has reached an agreement with the United States in order to expand Migrant Protection Protocols. This program allows migrants seeking asylum in the US to stay in Mexico while they wait to appear in the US immigration court. Mexico has stated that deporting them would mean denying them essential human rights. Furthermore, Mexico has taken efforts to ensure the safety of immigrants being deported. In June of 2019, 500 agents were fired because they had been involved in extorting immigrants and in human trafficking.
Additionally, Mexico has taken efforts to protect migrants rights and ensure a humane and safe flow of migrants. In fact, it was the first country to adopt the U.N. Global Compact for Migration. Additionally, in an effort to address the roots of immigration, Mexico is leading the Comprehensive Development Plan, which attempts to boost the economies of the Latin American countries Guatemala, Honduras and El Slavador.
Mexico also pursues close communication with the US to ensure that people that cross Mexico’s border with the United States are safe, are given respect and that migration is orderly. Furthermore, Mexico opposes the separation of family and places a particular emphasis on protecting minors.
Of course, an analysis of the situation in its entirety would be incomplete without looking at the context. The amount of migrants with whom Mexico has to contend creates great pains with regards to accommodation. Drug trafficking produces grave danger in southern border states, which is problematic for government-ensured safety for all civilians, not only migrants. Violence in the southern border and the prevalent drug trafficking in that area make it hard for Mexico to actually protect migrants. Additionally, the southern border is quite long, which makes it difficult to control it. Ergo, efforts to curb the violence are often ineffective. Furthermore, President Trump’s pressures on more immigration control worsens the situation for Mexico. Mr. Trump has long criticized Mexico's immigration policy, and Mexico’s lack of clear goals leave it in a bad bargaining position. The US has threatened Mexico with tariffs and sanctions, which would harshly impact the mexican economy. Thus, Mexico’s actions are limited. In fact, on June 7 of 2020, Mexico and the United States reached a formal agreement in which Mexico would strengthen its immigration control and take in migrants awaiting asylum.
Pressures by the United States however, cannot justify human rights violations, and Salva La Cruz, an activist from a human rights center, has said that Mexican government is “providing results to the U.S. irrespective of people's human rights."
Ultimately, the situation in Mexico is complex. While there are certainly many human rights violations, the country has also implemented several programs that protect asylum seekers and migrants. The context of the issue complicates government action, as the arrival of new migrants is exceedingly taxing on Mexico’s immigration system and law enforcement resources.
Mexico essentially serves as the United States’ immigration control. The country stops hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans from continuing their northern travel to the U.S. As the influx of immigrants swells, migrants face a number of challenges amid a bureaucratic system that is understaffed.
The Mexican system for analyzing asylum-seeking applicants is close to collapse. The system is understaffed and underfunded, and the earthquakes of 2017 only exacerbated the matter by briefly paralyzing the process. Thus, asylum seekers remain in detention centers for an extended period of time.
Yet, having to wait in retention centers is far from the only challenge that Latin American migrants face. Southern Mexican states, predominantly Oaxaca, Quintana Roo and Veracruz, are the main conduit for cocaine that is trafficked from Colombia, and the rise of drug cartels have led to violence. Border states experience high homicide rates as cases of kidnapping and gang activity continue to plague these areas. Latin Americans migrants living in these states have to protect themselves from criminals that seek to kill, kidnap, or sexually and/or physically abuse them. Some gangs may even raid migrant shelters.
Although the Mexican National Guard has attempted to end gang violence against migrants, many Mexican nationalists believe that the migrants themselves are the ones that incite violence and chaos. Locals have even called for Mexico to build its own wall. In a poll issued in early 2020, a majority of Mexicans said that the government should pressure migrants to leave.
Furthermore, the Mexican government implemented harsher migration policies. In January of this year, the López Obrador administration deported thousands of Latin American migrants. Although the Mexican government claims deported migrants received respectful treatment, human right activists and newspapers have reported that the national guard has grossly mistreated deportees. Meanwhile, critics of the government's cruel system have been silenced. A veteran lawmaker, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, was blocked from speaking in Congress of the human rights abuses he claimed were happening at the border. Activists have been barred from entering migrant facilities despite the fact that they were previously allowed to enter for two decades and provided assistance to migrants for that period of time.
While Mexico restricts media coverage concerning the migrant crisis, the government, under President López Obrador, implemented programs that protect migrants seeking asylum in the USA. The administration also wrote legislation that gave aid to Latin American countries to develop so as to mitigate the root causes of migration.
The Mexican government claims its migration policy is rooted in two pillars: addressing the causes of migration through humanitarian aid, and protecting the rights of all migrants. The nation condemns the practice of leaving immigrants in detention centers without resources, as the practice makes them more vulnerable and subject to harm. In fact, over thirteen thousand immigrants that entered Mexico at the southern border have been granted legal status.
Authorities claim that deported migrants are respected, and they describe deportations as "assisted returns." The National Migration Institute has even claimed that migrants are not detained or arrested, but rather “rescued.” However, Alethia Fernández de la Reguera, an immigration researcher, has said that the government, while claiming that it respects the human rights of migrants, is lying and confusing Mexicans. Thus, this government language may be merely a manipulation of public opinion.
However, Mexico has reached an agreement with the United States in order to expand Migrant Protection Protocols. This program allows migrants seeking asylum in the US to stay in Mexico while they wait to appear in the US immigration court. Mexico has stated that deporting them would mean denying them essential human rights. Furthermore, Mexico has taken efforts to ensure the safety of immigrants being deported. In June of 2019, 500 agents were fired because they had been involved in extorting immigrants and in human trafficking.
Additionally, Mexico has taken efforts to protect migrants rights and ensure a humane and safe flow of migrants. In fact, it was the first country to adopt the U.N. Global Compact for Migration. Additionally, in an effort to address the roots of immigration, Mexico is leading the Comprehensive Development Plan, which attempts to boost the economies of the Latin American countries Guatemala, Honduras and El Slavador.
Mexico also pursues close communication with the US to ensure that people that cross Mexico’s border with the United States are safe, are given respect and that migration is orderly. Furthermore, Mexico opposes the separation of family and places a particular emphasis on protecting minors.
Of course, an analysis of the situation in its entirety would be incomplete without looking at the context. The amount of migrants with whom Mexico has to contend creates great pains with regards to accommodation. Drug trafficking produces grave danger in southern border states, which is problematic for government-ensured safety for all civilians, not only migrants. Violence in the southern border and the prevalent drug trafficking in that area make it hard for Mexico to actually protect migrants. Additionally, the southern border is quite long, which makes it difficult to control it. Ergo, efforts to curb the violence are often ineffective. Furthermore, President Trump’s pressures on more immigration control worsens the situation for Mexico. Mr. Trump has long criticized Mexico's immigration policy, and Mexico’s lack of clear goals leave it in a bad bargaining position. The US has threatened Mexico with tariffs and sanctions, which would harshly impact the mexican economy. Thus, Mexico’s actions are limited. In fact, on June 7 of 2020, Mexico and the United States reached a formal agreement in which Mexico would strengthen its immigration control and take in migrants awaiting asylum.
Pressures by the United States however, cannot justify human rights violations, and Salva La Cruz, an activist from a human rights center, has said that Mexican government is “providing results to the U.S. irrespective of people's human rights."
Ultimately, the situation in Mexico is complex. While there are certainly many human rights violations, the country has also implemented several programs that protect asylum seekers and migrants. The context of the issue complicates government action, as the arrival of new migrants is exceedingly taxing on Mexico’s immigration system and law enforcement resources.
Treatment of Migrants in México
During the 2016 presidential election, President Trump built his campaign around an anti-migratory rhetoric. In order to appease his base, he followed through with his campaign promises, ranging from building a border wall on the U.S-Mexico border to tightening ICE regulations. For nearly four years, he has proposed various methods of curbing the migrant flow, adopting a completely aloof posture towards their human aftereffect. The infamous “Remain in Mexico” policy perfectly exemplifies this practice; since 2018, the number of asylum seekers the US Customs and Border Protection officials process at ports everyday has been limited. Those waiting their turn to enter the United States remain of Mexican soil due to bureaucratic delays. Once US Customs and Border Protection processes their preliminary applications, they have to wait in Mexico once more for the decisions. More than 56,000 migrants have been sent back because of this administrative decision. Apart from nullifying the essence of asylum itself -that is, the right to be protected from an urgent life-threatening situation-, this measure also places an unforeseen financial burden on the Mexican government’s shoulders.
Because of this strain, applicants have no other choice but to bear the squalid conditions of their accommodation. The lucky ones find housing in shelters, hotels, or rooms for rent, whereas the vast majority strives to survive in tents and tarps, unprotected from nature’s elements. They are not only deprived of fundamental necessities, like clean water and clothes, but are also threatened from drug cartels, coming face to face with the increased likelihood of kidnapping, extortion and rape.
Their quest for asylum has come at a great cost. Given the unhealthy conditions they live in, diseases and illnesses afflicting hundreds of them are commonplace. Poor hygiene, diarrhea-inducing food, and insufficient nutrition take a toll on their health. Of course, the term “health” embraces one’s mental well-being as well. With the constant fear of deportation and the everyday hardships psychologically unbearable, trauma has become a common thread. Screenings at a Doctors Without Borders facility in 2019 revealed that 55% of migrants tested showed moderate or grave signs of psychological suffering, while 10% of migrants treated were in need of pharmaceutical care. The screenings also recorded suicide attempts by desperate migrants.
Because of this strain, applicants have no other choice but to bear the squalid conditions of their accommodation. The lucky ones find housing in shelters, hotels, or rooms for rent, whereas the vast majority strives to survive in tents and tarps, unprotected from nature’s elements. They are not only deprived of fundamental necessities, like clean water and clothes, but are also threatened from drug cartels, coming face to face with the increased likelihood of kidnapping, extortion and rape.
Their quest for asylum has come at a great cost. Given the unhealthy conditions they live in, diseases and illnesses afflicting hundreds of them are commonplace. Poor hygiene, diarrhea-inducing food, and insufficient nutrition take a toll on their health. Of course, the term “health” embraces one’s mental well-being as well. With the constant fear of deportation and the everyday hardships psychologically unbearable, trauma has become a common thread. Screenings at a Doctors Without Borders facility in 2019 revealed that 55% of migrants tested showed moderate or grave signs of psychological suffering, while 10% of migrants treated were in need of pharmaceutical care. The screenings also recorded suicide attempts by desperate migrants.
Women and children are at an even greater risk. A third of female migrants become victims of sexual abuse after crossing into Mexico, while the reported corresponding cases of minors in a Mexican state (in “Chiapas”) peaked at 60% in 2019. Stigma and vulnerability have led many to sex work.
The Mexican government, pressured both by Trump’s tariff threats and the sharp increase in asylum applications (68,000 more people applied in 2019 than in 2014), felt the urgency to act. For the sake of security, the National Guard and military has been deployed in some of the border cities. Mexico constructed municipal shelters although at a rate not sufficient enough to replace makeshift tent settlements. For instance, in Ciudad Juárez, the government runs a federal shelter, which houses more than 650 migrants. However, migrants are only allowed to reside there for three weeks at a time, rendering their future even more precarious. As part of the crisis management effort, the government set off some job programs as well. Although promises for job offers have been made, the announced numbers were hardly encouraging for the thousands of migrants hoping for a lifeline. COMAR (the Mexican commission for refugees) also strives to assist refugees in their everyday struggle, by having, for example, psychologists on staff and by offering free services.
As the Mexican government attempts to handle this controversial humanitarian crisis happening in plain sight, the person responsible for festering it has justified the “Remain in Mexico” policy on the grounds of financial humanitarian aid. Indeed, in 2018 the US sent $139 million to Mexico. However, there is barely any evidence of US presence on the Mexican side of the border administering aid to the migrants. US efforts in Mexico are disappointing, given that a “check” can’t instantly solve this dire situation alone, but both international cooperation and true sympathy to the migrants’ plights are required.
The conditions under which migrants live are undignified and negligent of core, internationally recognized human rights. The Mexican government cannot contend with the crisis alone. Regional intergovernmental coordination is crucial, while US efforts to foster a stronger, more cohesive cooperation with Mexican administrations is imperative, as both are responsible for the upkeep of their shared border.
The Mexican government, pressured both by Trump’s tariff threats and the sharp increase in asylum applications (68,000 more people applied in 2019 than in 2014), felt the urgency to act. For the sake of security, the National Guard and military has been deployed in some of the border cities. Mexico constructed municipal shelters although at a rate not sufficient enough to replace makeshift tent settlements. For instance, in Ciudad Juárez, the government runs a federal shelter, which houses more than 650 migrants. However, migrants are only allowed to reside there for three weeks at a time, rendering their future even more precarious. As part of the crisis management effort, the government set off some job programs as well. Although promises for job offers have been made, the announced numbers were hardly encouraging for the thousands of migrants hoping for a lifeline. COMAR (the Mexican commission for refugees) also strives to assist refugees in their everyday struggle, by having, for example, psychologists on staff and by offering free services.
As the Mexican government attempts to handle this controversial humanitarian crisis happening in plain sight, the person responsible for festering it has justified the “Remain in Mexico” policy on the grounds of financial humanitarian aid. Indeed, in 2018 the US sent $139 million to Mexico. However, there is barely any evidence of US presence on the Mexican side of the border administering aid to the migrants. US efforts in Mexico are disappointing, given that a “check” can’t instantly solve this dire situation alone, but both international cooperation and true sympathy to the migrants’ plights are required.
The conditions under which migrants live are undignified and negligent of core, internationally recognized human rights. The Mexican government cannot contend with the crisis alone. Regional intergovernmental coordination is crucial, while US efforts to foster a stronger, more cohesive cooperation with Mexican administrations is imperative, as both are responsible for the upkeep of their shared border.