The Distance from the United States

Mexico and the United States share not only 3,000 kilometers of common border. They are also united by commercial exchange, shared security, and ties of blood derived from centuries of the coexistence of millions of people — including Mexicans on the far side of the Rio Grande and Americans on our soil. A bond of this type should not be disregarded in the way that many authorities currently do.

This is why John Bailey, director of the Mexico Project at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, is correct in saying that the Mexican government is right to feel annoyed by the United States, which has done very little to reduce weapons trafficking and drug consumption.

And one must add, the U.S. has done little to fight corruption. According to testimony from Charles K. Edwards, inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, the Los Zetas cartel has recently managed to recruit border patrol agents to assist in drug smuggling and human trafficking, possibly involving foreign nationals from countries with a terrorist presence.

Americans are mistaken when they believe that the problem of deteriorating Mexican institutions is a threat exclusive to this country. Avoiding their responsibility in combating arms trafficking, drug use and endemic corruption has resulted in a proliferation of scourges they once believed were far from their own territory. What more could they have expected?

The immigration issue falls in the same category — in some cases it is heedlessness, in others it is outright hostility toward Mexico. Yesterday, Alabama’s governor, Robert Bentley, enacted HB56, an anti-immigrant law even more strict than Arizona’s SB1070. It obligates public schools to verify that none of their students are undocumented. The template is the same as with the issue of border security: band-aid fixes to satisfy conservative American public opinion, all the while ignoring fundamental structural solutions.

From negligence in controlling weapons traffic to futile attacks on families of Mexican descent, the United States is showing its ignorance of the complexity of bilateral relations. Sooner or later, it will realize that any mutual solution will come about only through cooperation and inclusion.