Emilio Toussaint November 30, 2019

Psychology of immigration and migrants’ acculturation

Pawel Boski

Mexican Migration - Who has the right to migrate?

Mexico is a country in which several concepts linked to migration can be found due to its geopolitical
condition. Mexico is a bridge country for Central American migrants and a country that exports people:
migrants and “brain drain”; due to poor working conditions, low wages and increasing rates of violence.
It is also one of the countries that receives the most remittances at the world wise and at the same time we
treat our Central American brothers who travel through our country in a discriminatory. In this essay I
intend to address the following issues: history of migration in Mexico and its relationship with human
rights and humanitarian crisis along the country, remittances, and the immigration status of US citizens in
Mexico.

Since its independence in 1821, Mexico encouraged European migration as a means of modernization, to
grow and "whiten" its population; these processes were tremendously important for the dictator Porfirio
Díaz (president of Mexico between 1884 and 1911); who had a fascination for French culture and a
fervent conviction that Mexico could only be modern if it managed to resemble Europe. “Between 1895
and 1910, 140,000 Europeans and North Americans arrived in Mexico, where they held privileged social
and economic positions as landowners and merchants. In comparison, during this period, approximately
41,000 Guatemalans migrated to Mexico as refugees, who were fleeing regional violence.” (Buchenau,
2001)

This era of open migration policies ended with the Mexican revolution of 1910-1920. With the intention
of protecting Mexican natives from foreign exploitation, the Mexican Constitution of 1917 segregated
citizens born in the country from non-citizens and naturalized citizens, thus depriving foreigners of some
of their rights. (Waller, 2009) The Constitution prohibited migrants from being part of law enforcement,
becoming public servants and participating in public political speeches.

A boom in the national birth rate, the flow of highly specialized migrants, rising unemployment and an
increase in Mexican emigration to the United States, resulted in the General Population Law of 1974.
(González-Murphy & Koslowski, 2011 ) The General Population Law limited migration within Mexican
territory and imposed criminal penalties on unauthorized migrants. Those foreigners who entered the
country without permission faced up to two years of imprisonment and those caught trying to re-enter the
country after deportation faced up to ten years in jail. (Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión,
1974) Mexican authorities at state, local and federal level could request foreigners for proof of their legal
immigration status. These provisions facilitated corrupt officials to extort migrants through long-term
threats of imprisonment.

Despite these restrictions, during the 80s the first major wave of Central American migration occurred
across the southern border of Mexico with Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees trying to flee from state
violence, political persecutions and other human rights atrocities committed in their home countries. Los
indígenas mayas guatemaltecos fueron los primeros en llegar huyendo de una guerra civil de 36 años que
terminó por asesinar a más de 200,000 personas. Between 1981 and 1984, more than 200,000
Guatemalans entered southern Mexico, many settled in local communities or in refugee camps
administered by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). (PBS News Hour, 2011) The majority of
Salvadorans who escaped did not stay in Mexico, but continued to the United States and Canada, thus
contributing to the increase in migratory transit through Mexico. Between 1981 and 1990, hundreds of
thousands of Salvadorans migrated without authorization to the United States. (Gammage, 2007)

In 1993, Mexico founded the National Institute of Migration (INM), responsible for enforcing new
immigration restrictions and regulating the "entry, stay, voluntary departure and forced expulsion of
foreigners in Mexico." (González-Murphy & Koslowski, 2011) In 1994, the southern states of Mexico
captured the attention of national security forces when several indigenous communities formed the
Zapatist Army of National Liberation to protest the socio-economic oppression of indigenous people in
Mexico on the same day on the same day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into
force. (Villegas, 2017) Although the conflict itself lasted only two weeks, Mexico responded to it by
increasing the military presence in the southern border region. Militarization started with the creation of
the first border security program in the region, Operation Sealing, which tried to fight drug trafficking in
the regions of the northern and southern borders of Mexico. (Lynn, 1999)

Despite the increased military presence in the southern states, migrants continued to travel through the
region. The civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala ended in 1992 and 1996, respectively, but the end of
the violence did not stop Central American migration to the United States. Beginning in the 90s and until
the mid-2000s, high levels of poverty and a series of hurricanes and earthquakes generated a continuous
increase in the migration of Guatemalans, Salvadorans and later, Hondurans.

By the year 2000, Mexico's relationship with migration focused mainly on its status as a country that
greatly contributed in sending migrants to the United States. During that year, the number of migrants
born in Mexico living in the United States had reached 9.2 million. (Alba, 2013) Former President
Vicente Fox (2000-2006) tried to regularize Mexican migration to the United States and began working
together with former President George W. Bush on a comprehensive migration plan. In an effort to show
the United States that Mexico was an ally in migration issues, Mexico took action in the summer of 2001
to cut from the root the Central American migratory transit through the Southern Border Program; this
program planned to control the southern border in order to reduce the flow of migrant people. However,
the terrorist attacks of September 11 ended these negotiations, leading to an era of an extreme border
security and an iron fist towards unauthorized migration.

After that, the Mexican government began to promote the rights of its undocumented citizens in the
United States; but at the same time received a lot of criticism for his own highly restrictive immigration
laws. In response to these criticisms, Mexico approved a series of immigration reforms. (González-
Murphy & Koslowski, 2011 ) In 2008, reforms to the General Population Law decriminalized migration.
The legislation reduced the unauthorized entry to an administrative fault penalty, punishable by two years
in prison, with a fine of $5,000 Mexican pesos. In 2011, after the graves of 72 Central American migrants
were found in San Fernando in 2010, Mexico passed a law that emphasized its role as a transit country for
migrants. The Migration Law recognized the responsibility of the government to protect the rights of
migrants. The law mentions that undocumented people would receive equal treatment under Mexican law,
including the right to due process, education and medical care in Mexico. (Nowrasteh, 2014)

By 2011, the number of arrests of Central Americans began to increase at the US border. These migrants
came mostly from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, but their demographics where different.
Between 2011 and 2012, a growing number of Central American women, families and children began to
travel through Mexico to the United States. In 2014, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested approximately 61,300
families on the US-Mexico border, eight times as more compared to the previous year. The number of
children traveling alone increased more than doubled, from 20,800 in 2013 to 51,700 in 2014. (Leutert &
Spalding, 2019)

The motivations for these new migration trends are very complex and often overlap. The growing gang
violence and domestic abuse have caused some migrants to run for their lives. Others seek economic
opportunities as the Northern Triangle continues to experience some of the highest levels of poverty in
the world. The prices of basic services have also led Central Americans to poverty, just as the crisis in
Guatemalan and Honduran coffee industries has caused many Guatemalans and Hondurans to emigrate in
search of stable jobs. (Leutert, 2018) Many others travel through Mexico to meet their relatives in the
United States, many of whom entered the country after political violence and natural disasters of the 80s
and 90s.

Before I continue with this story, I would like to make a stop; since it was just at this moment when I
started working in an organization that worked with migrants called: FM4 Paso Libre. I joined the
organization due to the increasing number of migrants in my hometown; not men, but also women and
children. At this time Guadalajara (part of the western migration route) became a city of passage for
migrants; since the Gulf and Center Routes had become very dangerous due to organized crime. Migrants
mostly traveled using the train known as "The Beast." When the train slowed down, migrants took the
opportunity to grab into something and get on. Working there was complicated, after 2 years they gave
me the coordination of a project that consisted in psychological attention to the migrants who passed
through the shelter. It was a difficult experience since it was very common to hear cases of torture,
extortion and violence by both immigration authorities and members of organized crime. The sexual
abuse that women lived in their migratory path was almost certain, I did not know any that hadn´t injected
herself a contraceptive. The children were also in situations of great vulnerability in terms of human and
organ trafficking. Many minors ended up stuck in their path as they became involved with illegal drugs.

Given the increasing migration of minors traveling alone. The United States developed a response to this
situation, which included collaboration with Mexico to reduce Central American migration. On June 2,
2014, former President Barack Obama stated that the number of minors seeking to enter the United States
constituted an "urgent humanitarian situation." Two weeks later he held a conference call with Mexican
President Enrique Peña Nieto to discuss the "responsibility" of both countries to promote security in both
nations and in the region. ”(The White House: Office of the Press Secretary, 2014)

On July 7, 2014, President Peña Nieto announced the Southern Border Program. With this program,
Mexico promised to assume a "greater global responsibility" on the issue of migration. (Gobierno de
México, 2014) Peña Nieto mentioned that the Southern Border Program would have two nerve points: 1)
provide greater protection to those migrants who enter and transit through Mexico, and 2) secure the
Mexican border with Belize and Guatemala in order to improve Regional security and economic
development. (Peña Nieto, 2014) The implicit goal in the plan: to prevent Central American migrants —
especially minors traveling alone — from reaching the United States.

As with previous security policies on the southern border of Mexico, the United States provided funds to
support the Southern Border Program. (Isacson, Meyer, & Smit, 2017) According to the United States
Library of Congress, by 2018, the U.S. they have endowed Mexico with more than $ 100 million in
equipment and training for Mexican military forces in support of their efforts to secure the southern
border region. (Congressional Research Service , 2019) The majority of the US-funded support was for
the INM. The United States has also contributed “non-intrusive” inspection equipment, helicopters, patrol
boats, computer equipment and biometric kiosks to other government institutions, including the General
Administration of Customs, the Navy and the Federal Police. (Knippen, Clay Boggs, & Meyer, 2015)

During the implementation of the Southern Border Program, the Mexican government did not create new
types of immigration structures, but instead incorporated existing plans and expanded them. One of these
existing plans was a security system in which it sought to detect and detain irregular migrants who passed
through the region of the southern border of Mexico using the rail system and the geographic points of
obligatory passage, particularly in the Tehuantepec Isthmus. Although the INM is the only institution in
charge of arresting, detaining and deporting unauthorized migrants, it has the power to partner with other
institutions on a temporary basis. The Migration Act of 2011 authorizes the Federal Police to support
INM agents throughout the country, while the Navy could provide support in coastal states. The law
mentions that agents participating in joint operations must safeguard the human rights of migrants,
however, there is no document containing guidelines on the use of force by security officers. (Leutert,
2018-2019)

Although the joint operations of the INM had as a particular objective the trains, the agents also carried
out operations in other points along the migratory routes. Migrants reported that the INM and other
institutions placed patrols outside migrant shelters and made incursions into migrants' hotel rooms.
(International Crisis Group, 2018) INM agents also carried out operations at bus stations and increased
the number of inspection points along the main roads. Under the Southern Border Program, the number of
vehicles that authorities stopped for carrying irregular migrants increased by 10 percent in the southern
states of Mexico. (Leutert & Yates, 2017)

The Southern Border Program also coincided with an increase in the number of complaints of crimes
against migrants in Mexico. This increase has been a source of criticism among the community of human
rights activists and was reported by several organizations such as the International Crisis Group (ICG),
the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) and the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs.
(Castillo, 2016) These groups argue that Mexico gave priority to the detention of migrants over those
actions aimed at improving their security. As a result, migrants were increasingly frequent victims of
serious abuse while traveling to the United States. For example, according to a Political Animal
investigation, kidnappings of migrants in the southern border states increased by 166 percent during the
first year of the Southern Border Program. (Ereste, 2015) There are several possible reasons behind the
increase in crimes, including: 1) More frequent meetings with the authorities due to the increase in INM
operations during this period; 2) Migrants using more remote and clandestine routes to evade immigration
authorities which left them more exposed to criminals; and 3) Criminal groups now exploiting migrants
due to greater migration within Mexico. In parallel with this explanation, the Documentation Network of
Migrant Defense Organizations, REDODEM, which obtains its data from interviews with irregular
migrants in shelters, reported that the number of crimes against migrants by Mexican authorities increased
by 50 percent from 2014 to 2015.(REDODEM, 2017)
n 2015, the Federal Prosecutor's Office created the Crime Investigation Unit for Migrants, UIDPM, to
investigate federal crimes against migrants, as well as the Foreign Support Mechanism, MAE, so that
migrants and their families could report crimes that have occurred within the country Despite these
efforts, the allegations of the migrants did not achieve any sanction since 99 percent of the crimes did not
result in conviction. (Leutert, 2018) A lot of this impunity is due to the complex framework of the
Mexican judicial system that affects both migrants and Mexican citizens. In addition, many migrants
never report crimes for fear of being deported or do so until they are out of the state where the crime
occurred. Other migrants simply abandon their cases to continue their journeys north. Apparently, the
Southern Border Plan seems to worry more about the militarization of the country than about the Human
Rights of migrants.

Today, Mexico is in a tight situation; a "Migratory Sandwich". On June 10 of this year, US President
Donald Trump announced that he would impose 5% tariffs on all products that Mexico exports to his
country unless the Mexican government began to reduce the growing illegal migration. The increase in
tariffs represents an aggressive economic measure since 8 out of 10 products manufactured in Mexico are
destined for the United States. (BBC News Mundo, 2019) Trump's move was due to the increasing
number of asylum applications for migrants arriving in the United States; He says the system is on the
verge of collapse.

Mexico gave in to US pressure and promised to reduce migration in the next 45 days. Mexico also
compromised to support the United States in the field of asylum applications with the “Stay in Mexico”
program. Thanks to this program, USA will send thousands of migrants to Mexico - at the outset, more
than 8,000 – where these asylum seekers must remain in Mexican territory until their situation is resolved.
(BBC News Mundo, 2019) The problem with these measures is that the responsibilities of this program
exceed the economic and social capabilities of the country to ensure shelter for all these people who are
awaiting authorization to cross the border.

On the other hand, the president of the National Human Rights Commission in Mexico, Luis González,
states that with the National Guard assuming migratory work - not yet specified - could turn into a
militarization of the southern border. "The deployment of the National Guard on the southern border will
hardly be successful and, on the contrary, could lead to the violation of people's rights, if clear objectives
are not defined for their presence," he said in an article for the newspaper El Universal. (BBC News
Mundo, 2019)

On July 22, Marcelo Ebrard, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, said that the agreements have been
fulfilled and that the reduction of Central American migrants has been reduced. "On June 7 we had 3,880
people per day arriving in the US across Mexican territory. On July 13, it was 2,652," he said. "Mexico
achieved its objective" that migration is increasingly "safe, orderly and regular." (Alberto & Rojas, 2019)
Safe, orderly and regular? Or does he mean, more difficult because of the military stopping migrants in
the south border? Again, political discourses disguised as human rights; but only for who can access
them. The militarization of an area always implies that people with fewer privileges have to go through
greater difficulties and that violence becomes somewhat imminent; especially when crossing a border in a
“unauthorized way”.

This long story is just one face of migration; a hypocritical face of how the United States, and Mexico
pressed by it, use a humanitarian discourse, when in reality they generate other situations for their benefit.
In the first graph, provided by the Yearbook of Migration and Remittances in Mexico, we can see how the
majority of the number of people without documents residing in States since 1990 are Mexican. Despite
the various laws and immigration measures that the United States has implemented, Mexicans have
benefited in number. Even so, the economic activities exercised by Mexican migrants are not necessarily
in decision-making spaces. The second graph shows how 13.6% of Mexicans in the United States work in
the professional and administrative field, 9.5% are dedicated to commerce, 2.9% to finance and only
1.2% work in the government.

In the field of remittances Mexico appears in a very important place at international level. 40% of world
remittances go to six major destination
countries: India, China, Philippines,
Mexico, France, and Nigeria. (BBVA;
National Population Council, 2018) In
fact, it has the fourth place in receiving
remittances with 5.1% worldwide. Also,
the Mexico - United States corridor was
the main worldwide corridor in terms of
remittances; generating $ 28,126 million in 2016. Remittances are most often sent once a month (43.6%)
and are mostly used for food and clothing, healthcare, or paying debts. Remittances are really important
to Mexico in economical matters; in 2016 and 2017, remittances represented 2.7% of Mexico’s GDP.
(BBVA; National Population Council, 2018)
Mexico is also benefited from American tourism and the number of Americans living in their country.
Many of them go to retire to Mexico due to the climate and the much cheaper cost of living. Near
Guadalajara, on the coast of Lake Chapala, is Ajijic. A town in which the percentage of Americans is very
large; there are even several store signs in English and you usually see more Americans than Mexicans
walking their streets. The US embassy estimates that of the nine million Americans living outside its
territory, 1.5 million are in Mexico.(Rojas, 2019) However, this figure is difficult to confirm since many
Americans living in Mexico live with a tourist visa.
Many of the Americans who live in Mexico mention that they stayed because of the geographical
proximity, the weather and the quality of the Mexican's personality. For BBC Mundo they interviewed
Natalie Baur, a historian specialist in preservation of digital archives that arrived in Mexico City four
years ago. When asked about immigration procedures she replied: "The bureaucratic processes are
difficult and sometimes pointless," he says. "One of the advantages is that she works in distance jobs and
earns in dollars, which in Mexico it represents a lot more," she says. As for the processes to legalize
immigration status, she mentions the difficulties that many Mexican workers face in the US, while
everything is easier for their countrymen. "I wanted to be legal here and I pay a lot of taxes because I
want to be fair and contribute to this country. But there are many Americans who take advantage and live
here without registering," she says. (Rojas, 2019)
Migration policies that impact most of the population seem to have a common condition: the less money,
less status; the less status, the more difficulties to migrate; and here is where the migratory roads are
become unequal. Some full of luxury, others full of death. On the one hand, there are Central American
migrants who have to go through a country that is the victim of political economic pressure, corruption
and organized crime. On the other hand, you meet Mexican migrants in the United States who seem to be
benefited in number, but who are not necessarily represented in an integral way in the political spheres.
Finally, you meet American migrants in Mexico; many of them retired, earning in dollars and
unconcerned about their immigration papers; after all, the INM does not look for them. That´s migration,
depending where you come from is how you travel.

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