Thread: Mexico also copes with illegal immigration

July 4, 2007, 6:02PM
Mexico's other border
Our neighbor also copes with illegal immigration in this desperate flow to the north.


Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

If the failure to pass a reasonable immigration bill was a disappointment to all in the United States, it was equally frustrating south of the border. Mexico's President Felipe Calderon called the Senate's rejection of the bill "a grave error."

It is perhaps best to ignore the sting of criticism in the remarks and recognize that illegal immigration has a profound impact not only on the United States but on the country left behind.

For one thing, even as hundreds of thousands of workers cross the northern border for better opportunities, they leave behind unpicked fields and other chores undone that attract another set of immigrants — those who cross Mexico's southern border from Guatemala and other Central American countries. The low wages and the poor living conditions in Mexico are an improvement for some.

As well as being a source of migrants and a crossroads, Mexico, for some, is a final destination.

Those who enter Mexico illegally have committed a criminal offense, and under 1974 law are subject to two to five years in prison. This law is being revisited by federal legislators who don't want to be hypocritical in their objection to criminalizing immigration in this country.

The number of illegal immigrants detained in Mexico nearly doubled from 2002 to more than 240,000 last year. They came from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Human rights activists in Mexico and the United States express concern at the level of abuse of immigrants in Mexico, a problem the federal government acknowledges and is grappling with. Existing laws fail to protect the rights of migrants, and it is difficult for those who suffer extortion, robbery, assault and sexual abuse on their journey to obtain access to the judicial system.

Mexico has had its own tragedies involving human trafficking. Recently, a truck accident that took place in Chiapas resulted in the death of six illegal immigrants from Central America on a truck containing 200 people. When the accident occurred, the driver turned off the air conditioning and ran away, while those inside struggled to get out.

The incident cannot fail to bring to mind the 19 illegal immigrants who died in a truck near Victoria. Perhaps neither Mexico nor the United States should throw stones across the border.

Shifting the perspective on this determined northward flow makes clear the international dimensions of the issue. Rather than pointing fingers, both Mexico and the United States need to look at how to tackle the interrelated economic interests and social problems across both boundaries that will not abate by border control, amnesty or no amnesty.

Without examining the root causes of migration — economic deprivation and economic opportunism — there will be no improvement in the human rights for migrants or a decrease in their numbers.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/edi ... 43940.html

I dont get it...
The problems arent the same not even a little bit

They came from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador

What they failed to mention is they come through Mexico to reach the US where we welcome them with jobs, medical care, education, food stamps and anything else their hearts desire.