Seeking to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship.
08/22/16 The Washington Times
Haitian immigrants are surging across America’s southwest border, blazing a path through Mexico to the U.S., where they have been coached to claim asylum, earning them quick processing and almost immediate entry into the country.
Analysts called it a backdoor amnesty that’s increasingly being abused by illegal immigrants who normally would have no shot of staying in the U.S., but who, by claiming asylum, can gain a foothold here.
19/09/16 The Wire
On September 19 and 20, world leaders will convene at the UN General Assembly for the first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migration. Although focusing primarily on the refugee crisis in Syria, the summit provides an opportunity to reflect on a humanitarian crisis that persists in southern Mexico.
In the summer of 2014, 70,000 Central American children arrived at the US-Mexico border, seeking refuge from the life-threatening conditions they faced in their home countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
09/14/16 Al Jaazera
Aguascalientes, Mexico – On a hot, bright evening in Aguascalientes – a peaceful city in central Mexico best known for its students and thriving car industry – Hazem Sharif and Zain Ali strolled through the leafy shade of the bar district.
Small crowds of young people from the city’s universities had begun to gather around pizzas and craft beers, excitement in the air as they awaited the start of the Argentina-USA football game.
The two young men had other things on their minds, however.
09/14/16 Financial Times
Donald Trump wants a wall on America’s southern border to keep illegal immigrants out. But for people such as Rosa, whose husband, mother, sister, brother-in-law and two nephews were murdered in her native Honduras by gangs who then tried to recruit her 14-year-old son, Mexico already acts as a formidable barrier.
Rosa, who asked for her full name not to be used, fled with her two teenage sons only to find herself trapped in a political controversy that the US Republican candidate has put at the heart of his campaign.
09/08/16 InSight Crime
Recent data from the Mexican government reveals new details about African immigration to Latin America, illustrating the growth of human smuggling routes from Africa to the Americas.
Figures from Mexico’s National Migration Institute (Instituto Nacional de Migración – INM), reported by El Universal, indicate that nearly 3,700 African migrants — more than half of whom came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo — passed through Mexican migration centers during the first six months of 2016. According to elPeriódico, that figure represents a four-fold increase since 2014.
09/07/2016 AZ Central
A majority of Arizona voters do not support building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and they are even more strongly opposed to deporting all undocumented immigrants, according to an Arizona Republic/Morrison/Cronkite News poll.
Nearly 55 percent of poll respondents said the U.S. should “maybe not” or “definitely not” build a wall between Mexico and the U.S. in an effort to secure the border, with a margin of error of 3.5 percent. In contrast, about 33 percent said the U.S. should maybe or should definitely build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
09/06/2016 The New York Times
Is there actually a case for the Wall?
Donald Trump’s boast to build a “big, beautiful” wall along the southern border clearly provided a lift to his candidacy, arguably delivering him the Republican presidential nomination. Along with his promise to deport millions of immigrants who are living in the United States without legal authorization, it remains the leitmotif of his campaign, despite occasional bursts of softer rhetoric.
Mr. Trump is not wrong that immigration from Mexico and other countries in the poorer south over the last quarter-century has injured some American workers who competed with immigrants in the job market. It is not his concern alone; similar fears are shared by organized labor and others on the left of the political spectrum. Improbable as this may sound, the question he raises is legitimate.
