For a migration policy based on human rights

On November 1 of this year, there was an incident on the border with the United States, where the border patrol fired rubber bullets at migrants from Venezuela who were protesting at the border in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.

Undoubtedly, the presence of migrants from Venezuela, Honduras and Haiti, who cross Mexican territory to reach the United States, but are deported by title 42, a policy that restricts the entry of refugees for reasons of national security launched during the Trump presidency in the pandemic, and which continues with the Biden government.

Only last year the Commission for Aid to Refugees counted 129,844 people who sought refugee status in Mexico, and this year 86,621 are counted up to the month of September

The role of Mexico is fundamental since it is stopping the waves of migrants with the national guard, but it could also opt for another strategy where human rights are protected, and it can contribute from three important fields:

1- Historically, Mexico is a country of migrants that has millions of compatriots living in the United States, has an extensive consular network made up of 49 consulates in 25 states and knows from personal experience what the persecution and criminalization of their own is.

2- Due to this experience, Mexico led together with Switzerland the Global Compact for Orderly and Regular Migration of 2018, arguing that all the realities of international mobility converge in its territory.

3- Mexican diplomacy has a tradition of leadership that pertains to regional issues, as it did in 1981 with the Contadora Group due to the escalation of violence in Central America. Currently they concern countries like Chile and Colombia, where he already had a meeting with the latter on October 24 to discuss this issue, but he could also mediate between the countries of Latin America and the United States.

It should be noted that the López Obrador government has already taken actions in favor of migrants, such as the Sembrando Vida Program and the Central America Integral Development Program, but these efforts have to go hand in hand with the United States, which now has a political context complicated where on November 8 of this year they have votes for the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Undoubtedly, the task is arduous and Mexico could well follow the path it currently has, but even within its foreign policy principles is the promotion and protection of human rights, and migration is a right that Mexicans know well. It would also strengthen its position in the region as a relevant actor in an international context where human mobility is seen everywhere.

*The author is a COMEXI associate and a member of the CISAN REDAN. Specialized in human rights and migration issues. Degree in International Relations from the FES Aragón of the UNAM.

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