Our Undocumented Are Violating US Law

Published in El Universal
(Mexico) on 16 February 2017
by Luis Cárdenas (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Robert Sullivan. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
We are worse than the U.S. immigration authorities. Much worse, in fact.

Here in Mexico there have been cases in which immigration agents were linked to groups of the Mafia, participating in areas such as human trafficking or drug trafficking; here there is no enforcement of human rights during the detention of immigrants, nor are there active Latin American embassies that post on social networks what should be done in the case of a detention in Mexico. Here is a hell probably greater than that of the gringo border.

I do not think there is an illegal human being, but there are human beings who violate the law. Let's think about a painful but real issue: Approximately 6 million of our Mexican brothers in the United States are breaking the law because they are unlawfully on its territory. They are committing an offense under rules that, according to some legislative interpretations, provide that even being in the U.S. is considered a criminal offense.

They prefer to risk violating U.S. regulations over continuing to live in a country that has abandoned them, marginalized them and denied them possibilities for development. Nobody leaves his country, abandoning much, just for the heck of it. We have a historical debt that today we must consider before we consider measures of support for our Mexican compatriots.

What do we do then? Do we give them tips so they are not caught? Do we recommend secret hiding places? Do we try to create an alert where the raids will be recorded so they can avoid the risk zone? It sounds ridiculous! That is why I think that we must consider a real plan of action on the most sensitive issue of our bilateral relationship: the subject of human beings.

Regularizing the situation of 6 million undocumented Mexican immigrants in the United States may sound like a letter to the Three Wise Men. However, Barack Obama attempted to take executive action a few years ago that would give legal status to all the undocumented (about 12 million people). His proposal, which failed in Congress and in the courts, greatly resounded in American debate.

Convincing Trump of the benefits of mass naturalization over mass deportation is illusory, but it is not illusory to convince Trump's adversaries, among whom are some distinguished Republicans. Where is the lobbying on behalf of the Mexicans in American politics? Where are the lobbyists? Where are the Mexican defenders, backed by the Mexican government, in the U.S. media? Where are we offering a debate?

One cannot expect much from a country that asks for respect on one hand, and tramples on its own undocumented people on the other.

And if it were the other way around, if we had to naturalize or deport millions of immigrants, what would we do?

*Translator’s note: The U.S. immigration authorities are commonly known in Spanish-speaking circles within the United States as “la migra.”




Nosotros somos peores que la migra de Estados Unidos... Mucho peores, de hecho.

Aquí han existido casos en los que agentes de migración tuvieron vinculación con grupos de la mafia para participar en temas como la trata de personas o el narcotráfico; aquí no hay derechos humanos que se impongan sobre las detenciones de inmigrantes, ni tampoco existen embajadas latinoamericanas activas que publiquen en las redes sociales qué se debe hacer en el caso de una detención mexicana... Aquí hay un infierno, probablemente, mayor al de la frontera gringa.

No creo que exista un ser humano ilegal, pero sí hay seres humanos que violan la ley, pensemos en un asunto doloroso pero real: aproximadamente seis millones de nuestros hermanos mexicanos en Estados Unidos están violando la ley por encontrarse de manera ilícita en su territorio, están cometiendo una falta a las normas que incluso es considerado un delito por algunas interpretaciones a su legislación.

Prefirieron arriesgarse a violar las normas de Estados Unidos que seguir viviendo en un país que los abandonó, que los marginó y les negó posibilidades de desarrollo; nadie huye de su país, abandonando mucho, por simple gusto, tenemos una deuda histórica que hoy debemos de considerar ante las medidas de apoyo a nuestros connacionales mexicanos.

¿Qué hacemos entonces?, ¿les damos tips para que no los cachen?, ¿les recomendamos escondites secretos?, ¿intentamos crear una alerta de dónde se registrarán las redadas para que eviten la zona de riesgo?... ¡Suena ridículo!, por eso creo que debemos plantearnos un plan real de acción en el tema más sensible de la relación bilateral: en el tema de los seres humanos.

Regularizar la situación de seis millones de indocumentados mexicanos en Estados Unidos podría sonar como una carta a Los Reyes Magos, sin embargo, cuando hace algunos años Barack Obama intentó emprender acciones ejecutivas que darían estatus legal a la totalidad de indocumentados, cerca de 12 millones de personas, su propuesta, fracasada en el Congreso y en la Corte tuvo gran eco en el debate norteamericano.

Convencer a Trump de los beneficios de una regularización masiva sobre deportación masiva es iluso, pero no así lo es convencer a los adversarios de Trump, de entre los que se pueden contar algunos distinguidos republicanos. ¿Dónde está el lobbying mexicano en la política norteamericana?, ¿donde los cabilderos?, ¿dónde los defensores mexicanos, respaldados por el gobierno mexicano, en los medios estadounidenses?, ¿dónde estamos dando el debate?

Aunque quizá no se pueda esperar mucho de un país que pide respeto cuando, por el otro lado, pisotea a sus propios indocumentados.

¿Y si fuera al revés?, si nosotros tuviéramos que regularizar o deportar a millones de inmigrantes, ¿qué haríamos?
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