By Juan Hernández
The most important news for migrants in the past week seemed to be the phone call between the presidents in North America in North America, Joe Biden of the United States and Andres Manuel López Obrador of Mexico. However, the call was nothing more than the usual between the two presidents: unkind flattery and long-winded compliments, even longer on relevant issues such as the joint strategy to address migration. While we watched the agreements that resulted from this call with the usual disappointment, two media bombs exploded that at the same time directly affect migrants and the Republicans on the road to 2024: Donald Trump was accused of sexual abuse, and Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, signed what is already considered the toughest anti-immigrant law in the American Union.
Upon learning of both news stories, the big question arises: will the Republican Party continue to see Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis as its best option to fight for the presidency in 2024? I’m sure many «Grand Old Party» (GOP) leaders are cracking their heads right about now with the same doubt or worse. Perhaps they are already aware that many migrant groups, not only in Florida but throughout the United States, are severely questioning who would bet on the Republicans in the quest for the White House should the names of Trump or DeSantis appear on the ballot. Both characters of the «American political showbiz» stole spotlights to make headlines for the week. However, they could be more than a headache for the GOP. Perhaps they will be the shovel that starts digging their grave again before the Democrats in 2024.
Let’s look at the case of Donald Trump. According to political pundits, the sexual abuse and defamation conviction for which he will apparently pay $5 million to writer E. Jean Carroll is a sewer that is just opening up. Let’s remember that this allegation is not the only one he brings on his back. He was also accused in 2022 by the New York District Attorney’s Office of an expansive fraud lasting more than a decade that the former president would have used to enrich himself along with members of his family. And if we review his first campaign video as a pre-candidate in 2023, we can see that the defamations for which he was already convicted are still the basis of his speech. «They [Mexico and Central American countries] are emptying their prisons and their mental institutions to throw them to the United States,» commented Donald Trump just three months ago in his first campaign event. (See the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNNdUQAn6es).
The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, signed SB 1718, a bill that includes measures that make it more difficult for undocumented immigrants to settle. This law contemplates, among other things, imposing penalties of up to fifteen years for those who help undocumented immigrants with transportation, employment, and medical support. «This law does not solve any problem. It only dehumanizes people based on how they arrived in Florida,» say members of human rights organizations.
Undoubtedly, the law signed by DeSantis is very harsh and will surely provoke the deportation of migrants to their places of origin. In this sense, the first thing we must do in Mexico is an in-depth analysis of this law, a task that we will carry out in the National Coordination of Migrant Attention Offices (CONOFAM) because this is an issue that concerns all the states of the country. As for Guanajuato, we will continue to work transversely with other agencies from the Secretariat of Migrants and International Liaison, as Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo indicated when he created this Secretariat to support returning migrants in a comprehensive manner and facilitate their reincorporation into the social, economic and cultural dynamics of our state.
I am writing this article on my return from a meeting in the state of Colorado with Elizabeth Velasco, a young woman originally from San Francisco del Rincón, Guanajuato, who was elected in 2022 as a U.S. Congresswoman. (It is said that she is the first U.S. Congresswoman born in Mexico!) Before concluding this article, it is impossible for me not to reflect on Elizabeth’s words: «We came together, we worked hard, and we won! We showed that we can make the American dream possible.» Maybe she is right and next year will be the time to make possible the dream of all Latinos living in the U.S.: a better life for our migrants and their families. Let’s vote in 2024 for candidates in Mexico and the U.S. who truly dignify our migrants, as Elizabeth, our fellow countrywoman from Guanajuato, would say.
Elections in sight
By Francisco Peyret
Recent statements by U.S. congressmen point to the fact that the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in North America will face greater scrutiny in the bilateral relationship and in the conduct of its domestic policy; greater pressures on immigration, trade, and energy policy, and new challenges in the already complicated relationship with the U.S. legislature, according to specialists.
After the mid-term elections of 2022, in which important advances were registered for the Latino population in the United States, specialists analyze and predict the importance of Latino voters in the next election of 2024. Among the most important issues for Latinos are inflation, abortion rights, crime-fighting, immigration, and gun policy—issues that will be key to voter choice in the next election.
For this reason, the position that candidates set before this Latino population that continues to grow in the United States is increasingly important. We already know what the cases of Trump and Biden are about. Under the Trump administration, a «zero tolerance» policy was implemented that sought the detention and criminal prosecution of all undocumented migrants, which led to the separation of families at the border. The Biden administration has taken a seemingly more flexible approach and has sought to reverse the family separation policy. However, it has also faced challenges in managing the influx of migrants at the southern border.
As with the issue of drug trafficking, the issue of migration from the point of view of U.S. congressmen or candidates always seems to be blamed on the Mexican side. Statements in recent months on both issues have been very forceful against the Mexican government. During the next electoral months for both countries, the crossfire is expected to intensify. Frankly, nothing new is expected in the speeches. Evidently, the position of López Obrador’s government is much more contentious than previous governments, but it seems too late for the current administration to make a change in immigration policy.
At a time when China is gathering allies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and geopolitics is playing a leading role at a global level, we in North America do not have a clear proposal on how we are going to solve our border problems. Trade between Canada, the United States, and Mexico represents 25% of world trade. However, we have a border disaster in terms of migration and trafficking of drugs, arms, and people, the interests that are protected so that there are no bilateral proposals to begin to solve these problems are the pettiest that can exist in life.
After the pandemic and with the Ukraine vs. Russia war, the entire American continent appears as a commercial and socially disconnected bloc while it seems that the Asians, led by China, are entering into another dynamic. For now, our politicians appear with repetitive speeches trying to take care of their voters, without taking risks and, much less, without any proposal to solve problems that are seriously affecting the citizens of both nations.
