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La Jornada, Mexico

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Mexico Doing 'Nothing' as Migration Issue Spirals (Excelsior, Mexico)

 

"What are the governments of Central American countries and Mexico doing to resolve the situation? The answer is a resounding nothing, or very little. ... The migration policies of our country over the past few years have oscillated between inaction and the corruption of authorities responsible for migration issues. ... The truth is that Mexico has no migration policy directed at tackling the problem. This is reflected by the almost complete lack of attention paid to migrants traversing our nation on their way to the United States. Moreover, migrant stations located in various parts of the country are in such deplorable condition that they cannot ensure even a modicum of attention to the core of the problem."

 

By Martín Espinosa

                               

 

Translated By Halszka Czarnocka

 

July 10, 2014

 

Mexico – Excelsior – Original Article (Spanish)

In recent weeks there has been renewed attention paid to a phenomenon that for years has been a scourge for Latin American peoples, and for decades the people of the United States have felt its ramifications: the migration of thousands of people toward North America.

 

The issue began to be mentioned with greater frequency after the alarming rise in the number of unaccompanied children venturing across the Mexico-U.S. border caught the attention of U.S. President Barack Obama. They are detained, with some placed in migration centers, and others deported to their countries of origin.

 

A report from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reveals that at least 58 percent of minors trying to cross the Mexican border into the United States were "forcibly" displaced by violence in their own countries. Twenty two percent of those children report having experienced domestic violence exercised by the person responsible for their care.

 

Another terrifying detail: among Mexican children who have been deported, 38 percent report having been victims of recruitment and exploitation by criminal gangs. In the last eight months alone, 52,000 migrant children have been detained in the United States - a real humanitarian tragedy.

 

Given this reality, what are the governments of Central American countries and Mexico doing to resolve the situation?

 

The answer is a resounding nothing, or very little. Plainly and simply, the migration policies of our country over the past few years have oscillated between inaction and the corruption of authorities responsible for migration issues. Just to give you an idea of the problem's magnitude, dear reader, the Instituto Nacional de Migración [National Institute of Migration] has an annual budget of 2 billion pesos [$153,575,034] and employs about 5,800 people. With this infrastructure it services only 5 percent of the total number of Central American migrants who encounter a problem as they traverse our territory with the intention of reaching the United States.

 

In contrast, non-governmental organizations and civic associations, many of which work hand in hand with the Catholic Church, attend to the needs of 25 percent of those who suffer all kinds of harassment on Mexican territory, principally at the hands of organized crime groups or the migration agents themselves who collude with people-smuggling gangs.

 

It is clear that the problem will not be solved by a visit of Mexican officials to U.S. immigrant detention centers to ask the U.S. government not to "violate" the human rights of hundreds of children now housed in such places awaiting a resolution of their situation. Moreover, this year it will cost the Obama Administration about $2.8 billion to care for these children, an amount nine times larger than the $253 million aid Vice President Joe Biden pledged on June 20 for development and crime fighting in Latin America. The situation has already put Congressional Republicans in conflict with the Democratic president.

Posted By Worldmeets.US

 

The truth is that Mexico has no migration policy directed at tackling the problem at its root. This is reflected by the almost complete lack of attention paid to migrants traversing our nation on their way to the United States. Moreover, migrant stations located in various parts of the country are in such deplorable condition that they cannot ensure even a modicum of attention to the core of the problem. In their latest report on the matter, the Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos (National Human Rights Commission) put it this way: "The CNDH expresses great concern for the high degree of marginalization and abuse suffered by migrants during their stay in our country's migrant stations and other places turned to such use, as well as the lack of interest or incapacity of responsible authorities to resolve this neglected problem."

 

Today, the problem is reaching dimensions of a genuine humanitarian tragedy.

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:
La Jornada, Mexico: 'Not Since Slavery' Has U.S. Treated People Worse than Undocumented
La Jornada, Mexico: Pirates, Puritans and U.S. Immigration
Trouw, The Netherlands: Left and Right: Equal Opportunity Immigrant Killers
La Jornada, Mexico: Illegal Immigration: Cruelty, Xenophobia and U.S. Business
El Universal, Mexico: Influence-Flush U.S. Latinos Must 'Exploit Unprecedented Moment'
La Jornada, Mexico: Pirates, Puritans and U.S. Immigration
La Jornada, Mexico: Clueless Border Patrol Uses Intelligence to Study Recidivism
La Jornada, Mexico: Undocumented on Edge Before U.S. Supreme Court Ruling
La Jornada, Mexico: Undocumented are Again Caught in U.S. Power Struggle
Excelsior, Mexico: 'Comprehensive' Mexico-U.S. Integration is the Only Answer
La Jornada, Mexico: NAFTA Should Be Reopened to Protect Mexican Workers
La Jornada, Mexico: Mexicans in the U.S.: A Nation Within a Nation
El Universal, Mexico: Lawmakers Condemn Arizona's 'Racist' Anti-Immigrant Law
Diario Co Latino, El Salvador: Europe and U.S. Equally Cruel to Migrant Workers
El Periodico, Guatemala: Obama is Right: U.S. People Need Spanish Lessons!
El País, Spain: Tea Party 'Endangers Health' of American Democracy
El Universal, Mexico: U.S. Conservatives See Writing On Wall: Immigration Reform is Coming
Le Monde, France: U.S. Immigration Plans Set Example French Politicians Should Heed
La Jornada, Mexico: Clueless Border Patrol Uses Intelligence to Study Recidivism
La Jornada, Mexico: Undocumented on Edge Before U.S. Supreme Court Ruling
La Jornada, Mexico: Undocumented are Again Caught in U.S. Power Struggle
Excelsior, Mexico: 'Comprehensive' Mexico-U.S. Integration is the Only Answer
La Jornada, Mexico: NAFTA Should Be Reopened to Protect Mexican Workers

La Jornada, Mexico: Mexicans in the U.S.: A Nation Within a Nation

El Universal, Mexico: Lawmakers Condemn Arizona's 'Racist' Anti-Immigrant Law

Diario Co Latino, El Salvador: Europe and U.S. Equally Cruel to Migrant Workers

El Periodico, Guatemala: Obama is Right: U.S. People Need Spanish Lessons!
El País, Spain: Tea Party 'Endangers Health' of American Democracy

Estadão, Brazil: The Massacre in Arizona: Will America Ever Learn?

News, Switzerland: The Day Hope Was Shot, in America and Europe

Der Spiegel, Germany: Blaming Sarah Palin for Tucson Attack is 'Wrong'

Rheinische Post, Germany: America's 'Intellectual Instigators' of Hatred

Berliner Morgenpost: Mutual Respect: What U.S. Owes Itself, World

Polityka, Poland: America in Anger's Clutches

Salzburger Nachrichten, Austria: Massacre in Tucson: 'A Sad Day for U.S.

Guardian, U.K.: Arizona Shootings: Left, Right at Odds Over Effects of Toxic Politics

TLZ, Germany: America's Hate-Filled Rhetoric 'Unworthy of a Democratic Nation'  

 

 

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Posted By Worldmeets.US July 10, 2014 4:45am