1. Pressures U.S. places on Mexico to Curb Regional Illegal Migration Evelyn H. Cruz Arizona State University-College of Law August 2011

2. Relations between the Countries (Overview) 1980’s Laissez Fair or Benign Neglect—US completely ignored Mexico in passing IRCA 1990’s Crisis Management—US negotiated NAFTA avoiding issues of human migration and enacted severe restrictions on public assistance and on immigration relief. 2000’s short bilateralism era was ended by 9/11 and the resulting war on terror. Focus completely on creating a buffer to protect against terrorism.

3. Current impact of US Immigration Policy on Mexico The US tends to focus almost all its resources on militarizing and enhancing border security resulting in a dangerous environment for border crossers, giving way to the growth of human smuggling and drug organizations. Border towns are micro-economies that benefit both sides of the border-but may burden Mexico more than U.S. (environmental, crime, contraband from U.S.)

4. Examples of US Unilateral Border Initiatives 1993 Operation Hold the Line-TX/MX southern border. 1994 Operation Gatekeeper—CA/MX 2004 Arizona Border Control Initiative (ABC) 2007 Operation Gatekeeper II-a wall.

5. The 90’s Bilateral Border Control Agreements Mexico/US 1996 MOU on Consular Protection 1997 Joint Declaration on Migration 1998 MOU between CONAPO and INS 1999 MOU on Cooperation Against Border Violence Canada/US 1995 Shared Accord on our Border 1997 Border Vision 1997 Cross-Border Crime Forum 1999 Canada-US Partnership Process

6. Bilateral Action-The “Big One”: NAFTA NAFTA enhanced some aspects of Mexico’s overall economic indicators (Trade rose from $49 Billion in 1994 to $210 Billion in 2007). NAFTA subsidies in the corn industry and other agricultural products put many Mexican farmers and small business out of business and forced immigration North. BUT NAFTA did not address the movement of people across MX-US border even to the extent of the movement between CN-US border.

7. 2002 US/Canada SMART Border Agreement vs. 2002 US/Mexico SMART Border Agreement Mexico: “Establish a joint advance passenger information exchange mechanism; explore methods to facilitate the movement of NAFTA travelers; reaffirm mutual commitment to Border Security initiative; continue frequent consultation on visa policies. Canada: Jointly develop…common biometric identifiers in documentation; resume NEXUS pilot project; share advance passenger information; develop joint automated database. Why Canada’s more measurable and concrete?

8. Successes of the 2002 MX-US Accords Deeper cooperation with U.S. government Creation of Mexican working groups and task forces on migration. Training of officials on fraud, surveillance, and intelligence. Better protection of infrastructure from terrorism. Participation in US TIPOFF System which tracks suspected terrorists.

9. Shortcomings of 2002 MX-US Accords Bottlenecks at ports of entry for Mexican goods to U.S. but easier for U.S. to enter Mexico (therefore guns, cash, and untaxed merchandise is entering Mexico from U.S.) Slow funding process Does not address migration problem Drained energy from other pre-existing agreements and priorities Agreement too focus on US interests disregarding some Mexican priorities. Seguridad means both security and safety—US sees the first but not the second.

10. Unfulfilled Expectations Mexico and the United States had different ideas of what a border agreement should be. The United States retained power to take decisions and execute plans unilaterally. The primary goal of the U.S. is to control but not necessarily end undocumented workers entry. But they often speak otherwise or hint to a “future” resolution. The United States wants to use Mexico as a security buffer zone.

11. Unfulfilled Expectations Mexico and Canada expected to receive better movement of goods and persons in exchange for their collaboration. But for U.S. the priority from the MX-US accord was better border infrastructure and for the CN-US was the secured flow of persons.

12. Canada v. Mexico It remains difficult and lengthy for a Mexican National to get a visa to the United States and work visas are out of reach for most unskilled workers. Meanwhile the process for Canadians to enter the U.S. has improved

13. Shadow Players in negotiating for Border Cooperation Historical distrust between the two countries. The growing involvement of US states in the immigration debate. Low (US) public opinion of Mexico’s attempts to curb illegal immigration.

14. Mexico’s unsung work to deter unauthorized immigration Migration is beneficial to Mexico's economy. Even so Mexican have carried out a number of programs to disua.de immigration—such as public service announcements regarding dangers, assistance to migrants, some crackdown on migrant predators. Mexico has significantly increased repatriation of non Mexicans on both northern and southern border. Engaged in a drug war where the largest problem is out of their control—U.S. demand

15. Suggestions for better Cooperation Define a mutually beneficial long-term vision of North American integration Reduce American tendency to react unilaterally Address specific historical and economic causes of the continued flow of migrants headed North. Improve Border customer service—ease travel for goods and people. Public education –overcome assumptions, egocentricity, and misperceptions of partner countries.