In Mexico, Complaints About Immigrants Crossing Illegally and Taking Jobs Julian Aguilar - The Texas Tribune | |
go to original October 25, 2016 |
People wade across the Suchiate River separating Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, and Tecun Uman, Guatemala, carrying their shoes, clothes, and bundles of goods. (Martin do Nascimento/The Texas Tribune)
This sweltering Mexican village sits about 1,200 miles south of Texas, but the complaints about foreigners would sound familiar in the Lone Star State: People crossing the river illegally from the south are driving down wages, taking over neighborhoods and taxing social services. Others are gaming the country’s legal immigration system by overstaying their visas.
Tens of thousands of Central American migrants have passed through here fleeing their homelands, most trekking northward to seek asylum in the United States. But an increasing number are stopping and settling just north of the Suchiate River, the shallow body of water that separates Guatemala and Mexico.
Whether they are biding their time or looking for permanent residency, the uninvited arrivals have tapped into a nativism that puts more pressure on an already tense and poverty-stricken region of Mexico.
“In Arriaga, there are neighborhoods that are made up entirely of immigrants from El Salvador and Guatemala,” said Jose Maria Morales Cruz, a retired teacher who was born and raised in the small town. “And those who live here now don’t want to continue to the other side. Here, they are supported by their fellow countrymen.”
Morales said he can’t blame the immigrants for wanting a better life, some fleeing gang wars that have made Honduras and El Salvador two of the most violent countries in the world. After all, thousands of Mexicans have migrated for years to the United States, he said, leaving poverty and violence behind. But he can see why some Mexicans aren’t high on the idea of immigrants originally headed for the United States staking a claim in Mexico. Just take a trip to an auto repair shop or other blue-collar business, he said, and you’ll see why.
“The people that are from here [earn] 80 or 100 pesos a day,” Morales said. “[Then] a Guatemalan or El Salvadoran comes and they are offered 50 or 60 pesos. And they accept because at least they can eat, right?”
Ben Hasson
Mexicans can’t do anything about the violence plaguing Central America, but if they want to understand why some Central Americans are settling in instead of moving on they can look to their own government, analysts argue. Another refrain familiar in Texas – that the government has no control over the country's borders – echoes here.
Read the rest at The Texas Tribune
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