Trump’s Victories, a Year Later

A year ago, the United States’ program known as Remain in Mexico* began in Tijuana with the first return of Central American migrants seeking asylum. Since then, the program has been extended from Tijuana to Mexicali, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros and Nogales, and the U.S. immigration authorities have returned 61,000 asylum seekers to Mexico. Then, due to U.S. pressure, the southern border with Guatemala was militarized to prevent more migrants from entering, as happened a few days ago in Suchiate** − in exchange for nothing.

People who enter the United States unlawfully through Mexico are returned to Mexico for the duration of less than one year during their immigration lawsuits. It is estimated that only 10% manage to obtain asylum in the U.S. The vast majority will be stranded in our country; that is, about 55,000 people. Most of those 55,000 people do not want to stay in Mexico, a country that does not offer better salaries than the United States, nor do they want to return to their countries to continue living in poverty and serious violence; in the end, they have no choice but to “Remain in Mexico.”

Addressing this, in November the American Friends Service Committee, based in Philadelphia, published the study, “Diagnosis Between Walls: Asylum Seekers Under Migrant Protection Protocols.” The AFSC concluded that the returnee population that was waiting for an answer about their immigration situation in Mexican territory is in legal limbo, full of despair and uncertainty, “since they have been victims of both organized crime and police authorities, and criminals who have robbed, extorted, kidnapped and sexually assaulted them on their journey.”

The Pro-Migrant Defense Coalition and the AFSC rejected restrictions opposing the right to asylum for foreigners in the United States and made an urgent call for their dignified treatment in Mexican territory. They are asking the Mexican government to facilitate labor insertion*** and access to health and education services, to ensure the protection of children and to create a permanent [legal] regularization program for returnees who decide to stay in Mexico. Both countries are asked that people under the Remain in Mexico program receive treatment based on respect for human rights. They demand that the U.S. government respect due process and honor family unity by avoiding family separation.

One year after the implementation of the Remain in Mexico program, President Donald Trump achieved two important victories: He stopped Central American migration and replaced NAFTA with the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, two notable political victories strengthening his hopes for reelection next November. And now he is rearming to take aim at his goal that Mexico will pay for the wall. We will soon learn how.

And in our country, among disgraceful sycophants and timid censors, the dignified and lucid voice of Porfirio Muñoz Ledo stands in support of migrants. The politician from Morena was acknowledged by the president, who quoted his recent article in El Universal entitled “No Banning,” although the president said he would not change his immigration policy.

*Translator’s note: The program, commonly referred to as “Remain in Mexico,” is the Migrant Protection Protocols.

**Translator’s note: Suchiate is the southernmost municipality in the Mexican state of Chiapas and in Mexico, itself. The Suchiate River forms the border with Guatemala and is crossed by those who migrate north from that country.

*** Translator’s note: Labor insertion is a term for the placement of workers into an existing labor force.