Mexican Immigrants: A Valuable Asset

Apologies to all of my readers for being this absent. A conference about Syria has taken most of my time as well as my everyday job. I decided to write about a regional topic: Mexican immigrants in the United States. I hope it is enjoyable to read and that it also gives some ideas of why Mexicans are different in the good way, and why we decide to flee, as well as what distinguishes us as immigrants. 

There has been going a lot in the United States regarding immigration reforms. It is obvious that at least 70% of those are directed towards the issue of illegal immigration coming from Latin America, and most specifically, from Mexico. It is reasonable and absolutely logical that the United States wants to put some restrictions in order to establish clear limits regarding immigration rules. Nevertheless, there are different ways and obviously, there are different people. 

Democrats have been, up to some extent, quite flexible regarding the new measures they seek to implement for improving the condition of illegal immigrants. Republicans, on the other hand, have fallen to the extreme and to the typical discourse of invasions, Mexicans as job takers, and their innovative ideas that fall into ridiculousness such as building along the border with Mexico. Truth is,the United States of America, in spite of being a multicultural country, still has a lot of biased mindsets to the inside. In this entry, I will first explain brifely why it is not easy to get a legal entry to the United States, secondly I will explain the main reasons why people decide to flee and then expose the main dangers which immigrants encounter in their way to the border, and lastly I will explain what makes Mexicans unique as immigrants not only in the US but elsewhere. 

Personally, I believe in all institutions and I also think that all laws should be respected, in every country, for they exist and were created for a reason. It is obvious that the best for everybody, is to respect visa requirements in order to legally enter the country and be able to find a good job, and have some kind of guarantees as well as social benefits. Truth is that visas for the United States in general are insanely expensive for the average people here, and some requirements are not easy to comply with given the situation of workers in general inside Mexico. One of the hardest requirements to comply with is proving financial stability and income which, thanks to the current situation of taxes, is not an easy thing to do for Mexicans.

Mexicans in the United States have a vaierty of  reasons why they decide to flee the country, among them are: First, the lack of opportunities in Mexico, for salaries are quite low in general and workers have lost the right almost to everything in the name of 'saving companies', such as healthcare and even pensions. this last thing is thanks to the measures taken during President Calderón's government, which gave an exaggerate preference to the business sector. Second, personal safety has become an issue for many in Mexico derived from the sequels brough by the Drug War. People in certain provinces (and it is starting in big cities) are threatened and forced to pay a rent for having a business or even for having a house, and if they do not comply with it, they either get killed or kidnapped and killed. Many people who have been kidnapped in Mexico fled to the United States due to their fear of being held as prisioners again. In this matter, some people (namely activists, former politicians and even journalists) get prosecuted by the government. 

The current problem of Mexico is, the fact of the State being in dispute between people who truly want a change (civil society) and those who wish to continue the current status quo situation, by negotiating with organized crime groups and big companies. The Drug War (which is not finished yet), is making Mexico sink by the consequences of 70 years of corruption, and currently the situation seems to be stable to the outside, nevertheless, internal matters are different. 

The United States cannot blame all of these things on Mexico, for they have the biggest drug consumption market all over the world therefore, the Drug War is not a national matter. If there is something that distinguishes the United States from the rest of the world, is that except for Pearl Harbour, they have never had a war inside their territory, at least on this century. Many sectors in the USA blame the problem of drugs on Mexico, when the US Government has given protection to many Drug lords (such as the recently captured Joaquín Chapo Guzmán) and when there are truly weird things going on, for example: Juárez City is the second most dangerous on the world, now, how come El Paso, Texas is the second safest on the USA and Juárez is just a throw stone away and full of  violence? This is NOT a Mexican issue, it is a BILATERAL issue. 

Another important matter is, why people decide to leave the country and get into the United States in such a desperate way, because crossing the border by foot implies starving, dehydrating and even drowning. There are people in Mexico (and elsewhere in Latin America) who do for a living crossing people through the border for a very high price. Most of the times these people either abandon immigrants and they die, or they get lost or, in the worst of cases, get across criminal groups. This last thing is of the worst one can encounter while getting to the United States, because these groups either make immigrants to unite their forces, or kill all of them. This was the destiny of all those found dead in Tamaulipas in 2007. This is why organised crime forces have people from Central America inside their lines. 

Mexicans who get into the United State come from different backgrounds, and most of them are from the lower strands of society, therefore get there and learn the language and take any job. This is an advantage for many US businesses, for they save a lot of money by hiring them and just paying per hour. If there is something that differentiates Mexicans from other immigrants around the world, is their hard working character. Francis Fukuyama once recognised how Mexicans get to work at sunrise and leave their work places even after midnight. Many US sectors recognise the importance of Mexican labour force, for people always try to do their best and try to complete every task they are given.

I strongly believe that the United States should be grateful for the Mexican immigrants, because compared to other immigrants (like the ones in Europe), Mexicans do not get to the United States claiming for immediate benefits derived from post colonial claims or attempt to live from the taxes paid by US citizens without working, or get into the United States and seek the immediate benefits of nationality. Mexicans get to the places, look for jobs and gain money in order to survive, and then learn the language. They expect benefits to come later, and this applies to most Mexicans, either professional or not, who are working all over the world. 

Before somebody blames me of claiming such things out of blatant racism, it is enough to look around numbers in the European Union, and I also have experienced first hand while living in the United Kingdom and in Finland. In my opinion, being grateful with your host country is a matter of education. I also see that in many places of Europe, certain groups of immigrants have taken the discourse of racism when host governments do not act the way they expect them to, or they attempt to upset things in the countries. In the same way as the host countries welcomed them, they can also kick them out because in the end, nobody likes prepotence with initiative.

I would like to encourage the US government to reconsider their plans (and to Republicans to leave their claims aside, because they are quite pointless) regarding immigration rules, because comparatively, they have of the best people any country could have. American economy is what it is also thanks to the job of immigrants. We can have a lot of problems in Mexico, but at the moment we are given what we lack: safety, help and a good job, we tend to be grateful and hard working. Lastly to our European counterparts: Remember that in order to get to Europe, we need an airplane ticket first.