Breathe
By Stephanie Henaro Canales
Donald Trump's racist spirit does not only live in the United States. It also lives in the hearts of many Mexicans and could make its appearance in 2023.
Because the chaos of the world we live in and the pressures of the United States -in the preamble of the North American Leaders Summit- have made Mexico agree to receive 30,000 migrants a month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela, who have been expelled by our northern neighbor.
This confirms that the country is running out of time as a sending and transit country, that it is gradually becoming a receiver, and that this could activate the internal Trump of many.
Mexico is not used to receiving people on a permanent basis. The famous "mi casa es su casa" (my home is your home) has an expiration date and this is reflected in the fact that less than 1% of its population is foreign. According to the UN, the country is home to about 1,060,707 immigrants. Of these, 65.8% are U.S. citizens, while 4.7% are Guatemalans and 4.4% are Venezuelans.
This promises to change with time and the 360,000 migrants that we could receive in 2023 from this agreement, could in two years be equal to or greater than the population of states like Colima, causing "the sin of our original racism" to continue acquiring external dimensions. As has been seen with Central Americans, who have even been subjected to hate crimes; as in 2011, when a young Guatemalan man arbitrarily accused of robbery in Tultitlan, State of Mexico, was beaten and stoned to death.
Not everyone is like "Las Patronas", a group of women who for 27 years have voluntarily fed Central American migrants transiting Mexico aboard the train known as "The Beast" on their way to the United States in search of the American dream. All the more reason not to forget that the presidential elections are just around the corner and that migrants could be a determining factor.
Will it be the first time that someone uses an anti-immigrant discourse in the electoral context?
Receiving such a large number of migrants will be a challenge for President López Obrador's administration, especially if we take into account that the number we could receive this year would be equivalent to close to 50% of the formal jobs registered in the IMSS in 2022, which was around 750,000.
For the time being, creating jobs will also be a challenge, but the need to develop smart laws that allow immigrants who are able and willing to do so to be able to start a business quickly to get ahead should not be ruled out.
Will this help Mexico to stop being immersed in its own problems and start taking more interest in what is happening in the world?
However, it seems that for lack of bread the world was the one that peeked out, and that could be greeted by this nation's inner Donald Trump.
Last one to leave, turn off the light.
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