Concern about the long border shared by the United States and Mexico is hardly a recent phenomenon. The nations have gone to war over border and related issues in the past. They’re unlikely to do so again, but the absence of open conflict does not mean all is well along the line that divides the two nations. Far from it. Tensions there are so high now that the border and what takes place on both sides of it have become a hotly debated and closely watched political issue both in the United States and in Mexico.
Cross-border drug traffic and the violence that often accompanies it have concerned officials and citizens in both nations for years. That concern has grown in recent years as the amount of drugs moving from Mexico into the United States has increased. Even so, drug trafficking isn’t the most prominent issue directly affecting current U.S.- Mexican relations. Immigration is.
Immigration, almost every recent poll shows, is one of the most important issues in the 2010 midterm election. The economy and health care are the problems most often cited in polls of likely voters, but immigration/immigration reform, along with national security and the continuing war in Afghanistan, generally round out the top five issues of concern. Moreover, it’s well understood that the border with Mexico is the core issue in any U.S. discussion about immigration. That’s certainly understandable.
It’s hard to pinpoint the number of illegals who cross the Mexican border annually, but there are millions of Mexican illegal immigrants in the United States now. When times were good and the United States needed workers to do dirty, hard jobs for low pay — stoop labor in the fields, grunt work on construction sites for example — officials on both sides of the border would publicly acknowledge the need to tighten immigration policies but privately do little to change what was a profitable practice for many. Once the economy tanked, that view changed.
Nowadays, illegals are viewed as a threat. That’s prompted calls for immigration reform, though the clamor has yet to produce any meaningful results. The heightened attention has produced some hints that change along the border is possible after years of inaction.
Last week, for example, a top Mexican diplomat told the editorial board of a Texas newspaper that his country was prepared to directly address the immigration issue. If true, that’s a breakthrough. For years, Mexico has viewed illegal immigration as a U.S. problem, not a domestic one.
Now, the official said, Mexico understands that it must improve its economy so residents have little incentive to cross the border. In addition, he says, Mexico wants to take steps to “ensure that every single Mexican who crosses the border into the United States does so with papers, through a designated port of entry, and legally.” That, in essence, would require Mexico to take a more active role in policing both human and drug traffic across the border. It remains to be seen if that can or will be done.
It is difficult to ascertain if the statements signal a real change in policy or if they are merely a ploy to convince U.S. hard-liners, particularly those in Congress, to promote Mexico’s interests in the immigration debate.
Increased Mexican involvement in the immigration issue should be encouraged. It could promote an atmosphere more favorable to major reform. Whatever the case, reform that is practical, that improves border security, that requires unauthorized immigrants now living here to legalize their status, pay back taxes and pass criminal background checks, and that creates equitable rules for future immigration won’t come easy. It is a task that must be undertaken, though, if the two countries are to resolve or reduce the crisis along their border.