news.pacificnews.org

Border Control with Songs?
Commentary, Domenico Maceri,
La Oferta, Aug 16, 2005

Last year the Mexican government published a comic book-style manual that aimed to discourage people from crossing the border illegally while providing survival tips to those determined to attempt the dangerous journey. Now the U.S. Border Patrol is trying a similar tactic as it attempts to keep Mexicans from crossing north illegally.

An advertising campaign in Spanish that includes songs and videos will be broadcast primarily in Zacatecas and Michoacan, two states that have historically had a high migration rates.

The ads that the U.S. Border Patrol plans to run include music videos that aim to plant a seed of doubt about making the journey. The lyrics focus is on the dangers: the story of one of the songs even includes “voices� of dead migrants and their vanished dreams.

The songs are written in the style of ranchera music, which has historically dealt with themes including the exploits of revolutionaries, cowboys, and outlaws.

Will this have an effect in reducing border crossings?

Probably not. The attraction of El Norte is much too strong.

The huge disparity in wages between Mexico and the United States is motivating factor in making the trip north. Since the average daily wage in Mexico is about 5 dollars a day, an amount one can easily make in an hour in the United States, it’s easy to understand why people cross the border.

The availability of minimum wage jobs in the United States serves as a strong incentive to come. Even if the dangers of making it across the border are real, most people attempting it will eventually succeed. In the last ten years or so the trip has become more difficult and the use of a smuggler costing about $2,000 has become a necessity. That has not stopped or reduced the number of crossings.

The only message that would work to reduce border crossings would be a reduction in the availability of jobs. Following the downturn of the U.S. economy after Sept. 11, 2001, word spread quickly and arrests at the border dropped considerably as people decided that they would rather be unemployed at home than unemployed in another country.

Clearly, the motivation for crossing the border is economic. If American companies did not hire undocumented workers, illegal immigration would disappear overnight.

Yet America’s hunger for cheap labor has become an addiction. There is clearly work Americans will not do at very low wages. If salaries in agriculture went up to fifteen or twenty dollars an hour and included benefits, American workers would probably materialize.

Undocumented workers, on the other hand, are in a very vulnerable position and their uncertain immigration status makes them very cooperative.

While some politicians discuss closing the border, companies continue to hire undocumented people and claim that it is not their responsibility to check their papers.

The U.S. Border Patrol’s TV and radio spots, aimed at reducing illegal border crossings, are a mere band-aid for a serious operation.