Ten billion reasons why Mexico won’t close its borders

Matias lost his job last week. No longer able to grow his beans at a competitive price after all subsidies were lifted by the Fox administration to comply with the rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) treaty, his uncle, whose farm it was, went to work for his brother-in-law in a stall at the Abastos market. Matias has been unable to get another job.

Yesterday, he showed up in the Zocalo, looking for money to buy a bus ticket to Tijuana and to pay the “coyote” (smuggler) for passage to “el otro lado” (the other side). He was introduced to me by a mutual friend.

“I’m a little nervous,” he said. “I speak no English, and I understand that you gringos are shooting Mexicans all the time, just like in the movies.” I assured him that only a small percentage of his countrymen get shot; that the odds against it happening to him, especially in the California area, away from the vigilante racist ranchers in southern New Mexico and Arizona, were pretty good. But what of being left locked in a truck to starve or die of heat stroke?

“For me, that is not a problem”, he assured me. “The coyote is a friend of my sister’s husband, from the town next to the one where I was born. He has been helping my family and friends to cross for years, now. He doesn’t take more than one or two at a time, and his charges are small: only one thousand U.S. dollars.”

What about the “crackdown” by the Mexican army and national police on Mexicans attempting to enter the U.S? “Not a problem,” says Matias. “These arrangements are of long standing duration, and everyone understands that everyone needs to make a living, including some “Migra” (U.S. Immigration Service). As long as everyone keeps it cool and doesn’t get too greedy, it works well. The people who are dying in the desert, they don’t know anyone they can trust. They pay too much, and they are abused by their coyotes. In Mexico, it is always better to deal with people you know.”

My friend lends a small amount of money to Matias, and I do, too. Matias promises to return the money and we believe him—but if he can’t, we will not miss it. “How many like him do you know personally?” I ask my friend. “Maybe fifty,” he tells me.

I am not surprised. I am aware that whole villages are empty of most working-age males and many females, leaving the young to be cared for by the elderly. There is a lot of new construction in these villages, as money comes back for adobe bricks, plumbing and satellite dishes. There is also an increase in trouble, as teenagers living with grandparents, with too much time on their hands, find outlets that parents might have closed off to them. The social costs of expatriation are almost never talked about, like the social costs of two-parent working families in this country. Matias, with two small children at home, worries about this.

Matias is joining an ever-increasing stream of his countrymen and women who, unable to make a living in their native land, are living in economic exile. Money from abroad is now among the top four sources of income for the Mexican economy, and perhaps one of the top three sources of hard currency for the Mexican government. President Fox, in a speech in Hidalgo state last month, underscored this dependency, announcing that money from expatriated Mexicans increased by 40 percent in the two years between 2000 and 2002; a remarkable statistic when one contemplates the huge increases in U.S. expenditures on Border Patrol and other means, meant to keep them out.

“From here, I send a very fond salute, with my affection and respect for those families and for those migrants who are in the United States. Last year, they sent 1 trillion pesos to their families in Mexico, in small amounts: 100, 200 and 300 dollars, to increase the incomes of their families,” Fox said. “The success in the battle against poverty is not merely a government achievement, but that of everyone who participates.”

Statements like this put the lie to other statements made by government officials about stemming the flow of illegal migration. It’s simply not going to happen as long as NAFTA rules and globalization of national economies in developing countries continue to impoverish small farmers and entrepreneurs. Where there is a will, there is a way, it is said, and all of us who have the luxury to sit around the Zocalo and observe the local scene wish Matias— and the hundreds of Oxacans who join him every day—the best of luck.

Stan Gotlieb publishes a monthly Newsletter, available by subscription only. A sample is posted to http://www.realoaxaca.com/newsample.html. His e-mail address is stan@realoaxaca.com.