BACKGROUND
Overview
Causes of Migration
Routes of Migration – Western Route
Routes of Migration – Eastern Route
BACKGROUND
Please Note:
Since some of you reading this report may not know me personally it’s important that you be aware that I’m not an expert on migrant issues and I did not have the time to double check every “fact” presented here as carefully as I would have liked to. Also, the historical account and the discussion of the current southern border migration situation, despite their length, omit or gloss over many major facets of the problem. Finally, this report does not propose solutions since I strongly believe that the first step in solving a problem is to understand it.
Overview
For several decades prior to 1994 the U.S./Mexican border was relatively porous. In the years following the Bracero (guest worker) program which began during the Second World War migrants (mainly young males) from Mexico (and other countries in Central America) would typically travel to the U.S. when there was a seasonal need for agricultural, landscaping or construction workers. The great majority would return home after several months. The government paperwork required to make these short stays legal was often ignored. Much of the income earned by these migrants was funneled back into the country of origin to build family homes, to pay for schooling of siblings and to support older relatives. The situation, although not legally sanctioned, was tacitly approved of and encouraged by both U.S. and Mexican governments. U.S. government agencies, both local and federal, viewed the availability of a flexible source of temporary low wage workers as a boon to our economy; the Mexican government appreciated the inflow of cash and realized that the work opportunities were defusing a potentially dangerous source of social instability. Despite the fact that they were often treated very poorly, the situation was also looked on in a favorable light by the migrants themselves because it gave them access to jobs that were not available at home. And, it goes without saying that U.S. employers who prospered from the arrangement were also in favor of it.
The relatively free flow of people across the border began to be restricted in the late 1980’s and by the mid 1990’s it was drastically curtailed. The U.S. justified the restrictions by pointing to a predicted increase in migration due to a severe economic collapse in Mexico and growing concerns about drug trafficking. Those who have studied the Mexican economy in detail generally believe that the adoption of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 was a major factor in the countries ongoing economic deterioration. Because many of NAFTA’s economic and social consequences are complex and multifaceted the great majority of citizens of both the U.S. and Mexico have very little understanding of the cause-effect chain. At times it seems as if officials from the two governments are only marginally better off in this regard and that the only people who truly understand the details and impact of NAFTA are the multinational corporations that benefit from it. In many cases, lawyers and lobbyists working for these corporations actually drafted major sections of the document. In any event, since the adoption of NAFTA and subsequent agreements there has been an ongoing and significant drop in the standard of living for most Mexicans and Mexico has changed from being a net agricultural exporter to a country where food imports are required to feed the population.
Fearing a large and uncontrollable increase in migration after the implementation of NAFTA, and worried about drug trafficking, the U.S. government, in the mid 1990’s, made a major policy decision to take firm control of its southern border. This decision was reaffirmed after the terrorist attack of September 2001. To implement the policy change the U.S. allocated large sums of money to securing the border, turning it into a war zone with walls, fences, cameras, motion sensors, surveillance aircraft, checkpoints, and immigration and naturalization (INS) agents in SUV’s outnumbering all other vehicles on nearby roads. The U.S. Border Patrol, the largest federal law enforcement agency, states that it plans to have 18,000 agents by the end of 2008, roughly double the number it had in 2001. And, in June 2008 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government could bypass environmental laws in completing 700 miles of fence along the Mexico-U.S. border for which money had been allocated.
Whether the astronomical sums the U.S. has spent on militarizing its southern border have been able to reduce drug smuggling or prevent terrorists from entering the U.S. is debatable. Many believe that these activities, by their very nature, are easy to shift, in location or method, to softer targets.
However, border militarization has had a number of obvious effects. One is that more than 5,000 men, women and children attempting to reach the U.S. have died in the desert, and family and cultural ties of individuals who would by almost all standards be labeled as exemplary citizens have been destroyed. A second effect is that dark skinned U.S. citizens living near the border find themselves harassed daily by federal and local police and other government agents. A third effect involves the native American people known as the Tohono O’odham. Recognizing that the border, drawn in 1853, cut across Tohono O’odham land the U.S. government, for decades, allowed members of the nation to move freely back and forth across the border to work, participate in religious ceremonies, keep medical appointments and visit relatives. But in the mid-1980s restrictions were imposed. As a result, tribal members born in Mexico, or who had insufficient documentation to prove U.S. birth or residency, found themselves trapped in a remote corner of Mexico, with no access to the tribal centers only tens of miles away. Bills repeatedly introduced in the U.S. Congress to solve the "one people-two country" problem by providing tribal members with dual citizenship have so far been unsuccessful.
Causes of Migration
Although some migration is voluntary – e.g., there are people who move to the U.S. seeking a Hollywood lifestyle – most migrants are motivated by desperation. This might be due to poverty and/or starvation (resulting from lack of job opportunities, climate change, or natural disaster) or fear for personal security (due to government disintegration or corruption) or forced family separations. In Mexico (the region the WFP seminar focused on) the desperation is generally tied to poverty related to lack of job opportunities and forced family separations. See Figure 1
Figure 1 Mexico and the 2,000 mile Mexican/U.S. border.
Forced migrations, both internal and external, are relatively common around the world and throughout history. In the 1930’s, when parts of Oklahoma turned into a dust bowl, people moved west. In the mid 1800’s potato crop failures in Ireland led many to migrate to the U.S. In the early 1900’s pogroms in Eastern Europe caused a large number of people fearing for their lives to spread out around the world. And, in the years leading to the Civil War, many black Americans moved north to regain their status as human beings. Even in so called “classless” societies these migrants tend to be viewed as the lowest level and exploited by many groups that come in contact with them. To justify inhumane treatment governments often adopt policies and use language that implies that migrants are subhuman or criminals. For example, depending on the decade, official government documents have referred to migrants as “wetbacks”, “illegal aliens” or “deportees”. These same documents tend to include references to drug traffickers and terrorists, a clear attempt to associate the groups together in the readers mind.
Looking at the Mexican situation in detail one sees that much of the current poverty is a direct result of U.S. government economic policies which, to a major extent, were implemented to serve the interests of large transnational corporations. When these policies destroy Detroit, citizens can fight back at the ballot box. While the fight may not be a fair one, citizens at least have a discernable path to respond. Due to the nature of the long torturous chain of accountability citizens of Oaxaca and Chiapas, the two poorest states in Mexico that have been similarly devastated, have almost no way to oppose U.S. government policy. What we have is a situation somewhat like colonialism, only under a different name.
One could argue that by law the U.S. government is only responsible to legal citizens, and that corporations are only responsible to shareholders. Collateral damage that causes democracies to be undermined or the global environment to be destroyed are of no concern, even if such damage results in the death of human beings, as long as the victims are not U.S. citizens. Such arguments bring to mind the war crime trials following the Second World War and make a mockery of stated U.S. positions on Human Rights and support for Democracy.
Routes of Migration -- Western Route
The two poorest states in Mexico, Chiapas and Oaxaca, lie in the southern part of country roughly 1,500 miles from the U.S. border. These states supply a disproportional number of migrants. Depending on job opportunities migrants from Chiapas and Oaxaca may head to Mexico City, Mexican border towns or to the U.S. As a result of the militarization of the border migrants from most of southern, western, and central Mexico who are headed to the U.S. are funneled to a stretch of desert south of Tucson. The Mexican staging point for the crossing is Sásabe, a small border town about 20 miles west of Nogales and accessible by road from the south and deceptively close to Tucson, to the north. See Figure 2.
Figure 2. Map of Altar, Sásabe, Tucson border region.
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The route is as follows. Migrants from all over Mexico congregate in Altar, a town with a permanent population of about 6,000 located about 50 miles south of Sásabe. Every day roughly 3,000 people enter and leave this town. Most are migrants headed north. It is here that they meet their Coyotes, individuals who organize the logistics of the crossing for groups of migrants. Crossing successfully without a Coyote is nearly impossible. A good Coyote knows the locations of INS border cameras, schedules of INS patrols, locations of changing INS checkpoints and the off road gullies and animal trails that will be followed. They also have contracts for vehicle transport from Altar to Sásabe, east and west from Sásabe, and northward from the southern extensions of Tucson. Migrants are expected to make the journey in three days. It took those of us on the MTW seven days walking on roads and using support vehicles. Migrants stick to cactus filled gullies and travel at night carrying everything they need. To speed up travel the Coyotes generally distribute amphetamines to those with them. Almost all female migrants (who now number about 40% of those attempting to cross) begin taking birth control pills several weeks prior to starting their journey since rape is common.
The Coyotes charge each person about $(US) 2,500 which covers the cost of several tries at reaching the U.S. The migrants are often lied to about the difficulty and length of the journey. As a result they leave with inadequate supplies of water and food and lack appropriate footgear. Once arrangements are made with a Coyote the migrant often spends days hanging out at Altar’s Zocolo (main square) waiting for word that the final stage of the journey is about to begin. At this point the migrant is stuffed into a Van with all seats removed to be driven the 50 miles to Sásabe. (Temperatures of 100+F are common in June and the windowless Vans are filled with perhaps 30 migrants). After reaching Sásabe migrants are transferred to pickup trucks that scatter east and west along the Mexican side of the border to the point where they will be crossing into the U.S.
Migrants who don’t have the required $(US) 2,500 payment may be offered indentured labor jobs in the U.S., or be solicited to carry drugs as payment for the crossing. One clear result of U.S. policy is that it has generated a new growth industry. Many Coyotes, and their support networks that provide transportation and housing, have become extremely rich. And such riches are closely associated with violent criminal behavior and the corruption of government officials.
When INS agents spot and approach a group of migrants who have crossed the border the group is abandoned by the Coyote and scatters in all directions. At this point the migrants are left to their own resources and the possibility of death increases dramatically since hyperthermia, dehydration and hypothermia occur rapidly on the desert, especially when the body is stressed by amphetamines. Often, the only option for survival that migrants have is to try to find a road where they may be picked up by the INS and returned to Mexico.
The process of returning migrants to Mexico after they have been apprehended has been privatized. The current contract holder is the Security Company, Wackenhut, which is well known for its involvement in the privatization of prisons and for several ongoing legal battles related to alleged human rights abuses. One is forced to consider whether a key motive for this policy is that the U.S. government wants to distance itself from visible connections to inhumane situations. Photo’s of women and children severely needing medical attention being dumped at the border by uniformed government officials wouldn’t do much for the U.S.’s internal or external public relations image.
Routes of Migration -- Eastern Route
Migrants from Central America generally follow a more easterly path. Many are headed to Mexico. Those having the U.S. as their goal report that that the Mexico transit takes about six weeks and that this crossing is the most difficult part of the Journey since they are actively pursued by Mexican police and bandit gangs. Coyotes generally charge about $(US) 6,000 for this trip.
Here in the U.S. the expression “Underground Railroad” is indelibly associated with the Civil War and stories of slaves escaping to the North. Our schools discuss it as part of history. In Mexico the Underground Railroad is still in existence! It consists of a series of 30+ safe houses, most run by MaryKnoll lay missioners. These safe houses provide migrants in transit with short term lodging, food, laundry facilities and long distance phone calls to inform relatives of their status. At each safe house, the migrant receives information about neighboring sites
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