por Jorge Mújica Murias
… the Mexican government, of course!
The news of the week is that the one who has failed to have an immigration reform in the United States is… the Mexican government. If the Mexican government had been a serious institution we would have had immigration reform here for awhile. At least that’s the sense of Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan words a couple weeks ago. In fact, it sounds a lot like the Minuteman arguments of “let’s just enforce the law,” except because he’s talking about the Mexican law.
Sarukhán’s opinion not only contradicts his boss Felipe Calderón, in the sense that Mexicans can do anything they want as far as traveling inside the country, and even have the right to leave it if they want to do so, but he also contradicts the Mexican Constitution. Article 11 – All men (women don’t!) has the right to enter the Republic, leave it, travel across its territory and change his residency, without the need of safe-passage letters, passports or other similar requirements.
But Sarukhán openly told the Editorial Board of the Dallas Morning News that “Regardless of what happens on this side of the border, México has to be able to do two things that has had not either the power of the will to do in the past. First, it has to push for economic development and create well paid Jobs to ‘anchor’ those men and women (who leave.) Second, it should make sure that all Mexicans who cross the border do so with papers, at a designated crossing point, legally”. That would be to act like the Migra, but in reverse, on exit.
The Ambassador is legally right. The idea is not even new. Since Vicente Fox was talking (to itself, it seems) about a migration treaty with the United States, his then Foreign Relations Minister Jorge Castañeda proposed something similar. My namesake wanted stricter immigration controls, not only for tourists and foreigners, but for Mexicans as well, and not allow anyone to enter or leave the country without papers. It was part of his idea of a “complete enchilada” The idea even made it trough the Mexican Chamber of Deputies and accepted in a resolution point in February of 2006 as part of a document elaborated by a group of paisanólogos (people who look at migrants from the distance and then write big documents explaining who we are,) by the name of “México: Facing the Migration Phenomena”.
From the dish to the mouth…
Sarukhán’s opinion created a ruckus in both sides of the border, including a call for his resignation, because it was perceived that such policy would benefit more the US than México; in other words, it sounded more like a US offi cial than a Mexican one.
But I would not worry much about it. The Mexican General Population Law (we don’t even have an Immigration Law,) said pretty clearly on its Article 11 that “International transit through ports, airports and borders will use only designated places and within the established schedules by migration authorities”. That’s what Sarukhan wants, that nobody leaves México at midnight through the Sasabe dessert.
Furthermore, Article 16 says that “Immigration Services will have priority… to inspect the entry and exit of people, in whichever way they do it, including national and international vessels, by sea or air, at shores, ports, borders and airports. Even more, Article 3 says “To enforce this law, the Ministry of the Interior will dictate and execute, or in its case it will promote with the concerning authorities the necessary measures to: (Fraction VIII) Restrict the emigration of Mexican nationals when the national interest so demands”.
But like everything else in México, the law defeats itself. For all of the above to happen, it would be necessary to apply Article 10, and a big failure resides there: Article 10 It is the exclusive prerogative of the Ministry of the Interior to design the appropriated places for International transit, … previous opinion by the Finance and Public Credit Ministry, the Transport and communications Ministry, the Health and Public Assistance Ministry, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Agriculture and Cattle Ministry and, if necessary, the Ministry of the Navy”.
There goes the plan!
By the time Finance and Public Credit, Transport and Communications, Health and Public Assistance, the Foreign Affairs, Agriculture and Cattle and the Navy get together, create a committee, give huge salaries to friends and cousins of the ministers, and then agree on the points where you have to present your papers we will be already in the XXII Century.
In any case, I hope US legislators take Sarukhan seriously… and approve some kind of immigration reform… mexicodelnorte@yahoo.com.mx
