The exodus of migrants, mostly Hondurans, has had to face, among other calamities, the closing of the entrance to Mexico guarded by 400 federal police. Although they were not armed, they did have anti-riot equipment which they used on the migrants, including tear gas which hurt many of them. The newspapers and television have given accounts, from very different points of view, of the enormous difficulties and especially of what has become a real human tragedy.
The performance of the Mexican government has been lamentable. It has clearly stated that those who have a visa or passport or want to take refuge or asylum in Mexico could enter, but those who don't have documents will be deported. That is exactly what the government of Donald Trump has imposed on Mexico. First, it was with his threats to send the U.S. Army to the Mexican border if Mexico did not act accordingly. Once Mexico sent federal forces [to the border with Guatemala], the message changed:
"Mexico has understood the leadership of United States and showed respect for the country to its north."It is incredible, a real slap in the face to the Mexican people.
The actions of the government of Enrique Peña Nieto prove conclusively that it has accepted being a "third country [of security]"; that is, that migrants are being forced to seek refuge in Mexico even though it is the obligation of the United States, since the migrants want to get there, not stay in Mexico.
And the government has not respected the New York Declaration [for Refugees and Migrants, signed by member nations of the United Nations on Sept. 19, 2016], that clearly states:
"We reaffirm and fully protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of their status. They are all holders of rights. They also are dealing with displacements caused by poverty, instability, marginalization, exclusion and lack of economic opportunities and of development. Priority attention will be given to vulnerable populations [child migrants in particular]."
Clearly, what was signed is not being honored. To make matters worse, from January to May of 2018, Mexico more than doubled the deportations of Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguans that it had carried out in the first five months of 2017, which was 40,895, according to a Guatemalan migratory sources (The Vanguard). It is a way to criminalize migrants, and this vision permeates society that is easily prey to false phrases that are repeated incessantly, seeking to turn them into truths — migrants take away jobs, are criminals, etcetera, etcetera — which encourages exclusion, fanaticism, xenophobia and violence.
Migration is not solved by using police, or with border security or walls. Doors should not be closed; instead, they should be listened to, given support, attention and respect for their human rights, in a context of solidarity, the same as we expect for our fellow citizens in the United States, instead of the building of walls.
The government of Enrique Peña Nieto has folded in the face of the demands of the United States, with a fumbling and vacuous discourse about maintaining order and legal procedures. They are frivolous words that have nothing to do with the serious event that is happening, an impressive and desperate exodus of migrants fleeing hunger, insecurity, repressive policies, the lack of minimum conditions for a life they deserve. It is the result of an economic model that privileges the opulence of a few over the poverty of the majorities.
Curiously, these are the same migrants who then send to their countries the huge remittances that, in the case of Honduras, amounted to more than 4 billion dollars in 2017. That amounts to 18.5% of the country's gross domestic product. It is exactly the same as what happens with Mexican migrants.
The Mexican government continues to do the United States' dirty work and now, once again, gives Donald Trump weapons for his re-election. Spanish original
*Ana Maria Aragonés is a professor at the Acatlán School of Higher Studies of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a full-time researcher at UNAM's Institute of Economic Research. Her main research area is international migration movements and labor markets. She has an undergraduate degree in history from UNAM, a Masters in Work Administration from the Autonomous Metropolitan University, Xochimilco Campus, and Ph.D. from the University of Montpellier, France.