Mexico and the United States are linked by several factors: political, economic, commercial, geographical, historical and social. However, the decisions and projects of the new American president, especially in regard of the migration dossier – today considered the salvation of Trump’s presidential failure, so far–, have created tensions between the two neighbouring countries. These tensions are fueled by the uncertainty and contradictions of the US government.
Confusing messages
John Kelly, US Secretary of Homeland Security, publicly denied on February the prospect of mass deportations, of deportations to Mexico despite nationality and the use of armed forces to prosecute illegal immigrants.
This contradicts the statements of President Donald Trump of previous days. On the contrary, Kelly stressed the spirit of dialogue, cooperation, and respect for the human rights of undocumented immigrants. However, on 6 March he said that he was planning to separate the children from their immigrant parents in order to discourage them from entering the US – talking about respect and human rights!
Despite the Mexican government's position against president Trump's initiatives, Mexicans do not trust the government or President Enrique Peña Nieto, who is well known for making bad decisions, such as the appointment of Luis Videgaray Caso as Minister of Foreign Affairs. This man has no knowledge or preparation in international and diplomatic matters, according to his own statements in his first speech.
In fact, when he was Secretary of Finance, he invited Trump on August 2016 to talk with Peña Nieto; this was done without even respecting the diplomatic protocol, nor the authority of Claudia Ruiz Massieu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time, who was not even aware of this initiative.
On 25 January 2017, Trump signed the decree about the border wall.
It is worth mentioning that the two countries share more than 3100 km of border. Currently, there are 569 km of fences to stop pedestrians and 482 km of vehicle fences, most of them built during the second term of George W. Bush. But, there is not enough money to start this expensive flagship project of $ 21.6 billion dollars, despite the appeal for tenders made in January from companies wishing to carry out this project.
The president Trump administration reaffirmed on 23 April that the financing for the Border Wall is a condition for the approval of the US budget and if the negotiations fail the government could be stymied in this regard. It is “the height of irresponsibility,” denounced Democratic Dick Durbin, on CNN.
Drugs and immigration
While it is true that the US has a national epidemic of opiate dependence, a wall would not be the right solution to stop the drugs from crossing. Let’s take the example of heroin: trafficking is done by the passage of small quantities hidden in shoes, toothpaste, and even inside human beings! People who pass drugs are individuals from the villages near the border who need money or who are extorted to traffic in exchange for help to cross easily.
The wall is not a solution, but a mere distraction to the real problem. Furthermore, drugs and other illegal product couriers have multiple ways to evade the current border walls, like catapults, cannons, ramps, drones and sophisticated tunnels, according to the BBC.
As for illegal immigration, there are people who wish to have a better standard of living in both economic and security aspects. Building a wall will not stop them, as most of them are ready to die. Besides this, they will be more likely to fall into the hands of drug, organs and people traffickers.
Despite the "America first" policy, the jobs that are taken by Latin American immigrants are non-substitutable jobs: this means that they are jobs that the Americans do not want to take.
Moreover, the Latin American workforce is much cheaper. Even the President's son, Eric Trump, knows this. Just last February he asked to hire 23 foreign workers in his vineyard in Virginia. Indeed, President Trump already knew this too as his clothing brand 'Donald J. Trump Signature Collection' is made in Mexico.
