Altering the Forces That Drive Illegal Immigration
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Altering the forces that drive illegal immigration
Mexico's own initiatives boost the chances
Friday, August 25, 2006
that a Senate-House compromise could work
T wo decades ago, the United States tried to repair its broken southern border unilaterally, without much help from the nation on the other side. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was hailed as a major step forward, but in hindsight it looks as effective as one hand clapping. The other hand, Mexico, remained folded.
Poor, proud and embroiled in economic crisis, Mexico -- its leaders, anyway -- was in a state of denial. To acknowledge the northward flight of its population would have been to admit massive economic failure. Twenty years later, however, as pressure again mounts to repair the border, few Americans realize why it stands a better chance of working this time around: Mexico could be a full partner.
As Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez, undersecretary for foreign affairs, emphasized during a visit to Oregon this week, Mexico gets it. It is not only shouldering more responsibility for its far-flung migrant population, but it's also offering them new incentives to return home.
Last year, Mexico expanded its low-cost health care program, known as Seguro Popular, to cover as many as 400,000 Mexican migrants living in the United States. It has ambitions to cover even more, Gutierrez said, and plans are in the works to provide a small budget to return injured migrants to Mexico by air ambulance. Obviously, this won't eliminate the need for emergency room visits, or come close to covering the millions of Mexican nationals who live in the United States. But in the long run, it moves in the right direction and could cut down on American hospital costs.
Most of the push-and-pull factors that drive illegal immigration aren't entirely within the control of either nation, of course. But one innovation Mexico is pursuing that can't hurt is the transnational or binational mortgage, Gutierrez said. This gives immigrants working in the United States a chance to simultaneously buy a house in Mexico.
In the past, many illegal workers have found a way to build small homes in Mexico without help from banks or mortgages, sometimes wiring money directly to cement makers to pour the foundations. But banks are now waking up to this opportunity. Even if these workers' accounts are fairly modest, banks are recognizing that this customer base is extremely dependable. Most Latinos, even those here illegally, send home money faithfully to their families. A 2004 study showed that most workers send, on average, $240 a month, which adds up in Mexico to $20 billion a year.
Right now, of course, Mexico's economy is surging. That beats any fence as the best way to prevent illegal immigration. A "get tough" border crackdown, like the one favored by the U.S. House of Representatives, actually could backfire by further "locking in" this nation's 12 million illegal immigrants. Instead of motivating them to come forward, it could mostly discourage them from returning home because they fear they'll never get back in.
What Mexico and the United States should be doing, instead, is normalizing travel, encouraging "circularity" in the system and capitalizing on immigrants' own ties to their home country. A Senate bill, favored by President Bush, would do just this, offering incentives for the illegal population to come forward, instead of just going underground and disappearing.
Mexico's initiatives are only starts in the right direction, but they synchronize well with the president's approach, and also with the pushes and pulls of human nature. If the Senate and House are able to reach agreement in 2006, we have a real chance to fix our nation's southern border.
Our neighbor to the south is ready to help. We shouldn't turn down that offer.
