Monday, August 1, 2005
By Enrique Andrade González
The
Mexican government has yet to learn how to sway U.S. migration policy, or find a way to reach a bilateral immigration accord
that would include issues such as seasonal workers, migrant’s rights, deportations, access to public services, etc. It has done little more than hope the U.S. Congress might favorably resolve the matter,
even while knowing the bills that are pending.
Part
of what has occurred is that Mexican officials are not sure what they are after and what they can achieve. There are no defined migratory policies, which there are with other issues — not with respect to
the legal and illegal departure of Mexicans from the country, or with regard to the legal and illegal entry of foreigners.
And
how can Mexico seek an immigration agreement with the U.S. if it doesn’t have pacts with countries of Central America,
South America or Asia, with thousands of people from those regions entering Mexico illegally?
As important,
the treatment of foreigners held in Mexico’s immigrant detention centers is regrettably inhumane.
“Human
rights violation are committed at the nations 46 migratory stations, (and) it appears there is a general indifference towards
them,” said Mauricio Farah, a Visitor General with Mexico’s National Commission of Human Rights. Farah also said that making note of a lack of funds, by the Commissioner of Migration and other Secretariat
of Government officials, is no excuse for how the foreign detainees are being held.
There
are shortages of food, water and baths. Even more serious is the documented fact
that detainees may not communicate with their families, attorneys or others for help.
On occasion the consulates of the respective countries know something about those being held, but more often they do
not know whom or where they are, or how many have been taken into custody.
In 2002
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an agency of the Organization of American States, made a number of
specific recommendations when it asked the Mexican government for access to migrant holding stations, and for permission to
communicate with foreigners therein. The document includes narrations by people
who had been detained who spoke of woeful living conditions, young children being locked-up for as many as 20 days, one meal
a day, and something what was common in almost all cases — the lack of information for detainees and for their families. And the IACHR specifically asked Mexico and its migratory officials to rectify those
situations.
In its
conclusion, the IACHR determined that migrants in Mexico continue to be the victims of frequent human rights violations.
Out
of 44 young people interviewed by Mexico’s “Sin Fronteras” activist organization, only 14 knew why and for
how long they might be detained, while the remaining 30 had no information. Foreign
women, for a period from August 19, 2003 to March 11, 2004, suffered discrimination without access to an adequate defense.
The
report indicates that from January to December of 2003, a total of 187,537 people were jailed for being in Mexico illegally,
with the majority coming from Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil and China. It also
said that the migrant jails where they were held are permanently overcrowded.
This
data coincides with figures reported by the U.S. Border Patrol that calculated entry into the U.S. for the same period of
“Other than Mexican” (OTM) migrants at approximately 150,000 people, with the majority coming from Central America
and Brazil. Those and other OTMs apprehended, are according to reports more dangerous
to deal with than Mexicans.
And
the failure of Mexico and its Secretariat of Government to establish an earnest migration policy could allow people from all-over
the world to cross the border.
Resources
are certainly needed to strengthen vigilance throughout Mexico, but too they are needed in order to insure those detained
are informed of their rights while receiving dignified treatment. When possible
they should be allowed to normalize their immigrant status, or otherwise permitted to promptly return to their countries of
origin.
Clearly
the immigration problem is not exclusive to the U.S., and for Mexico to try to look after the rights of its citizens in the
U.S. while steamrolling the human rights of foreigners in Mexico should and cannot be.
Enrique Andrade, a Mexico City-based attorney and business consultant, writes a weekly
column for MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at enriqueag@andradep.com.
