The Migratory Debate Revisited

The Migratory Debate Revisited:
Open Borders and Alternatives
for Human Development

Miguel Pickard - 12-May-2006 - num.505
ciepac, san cristóbal de las casas

From the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, June 2005

We shall continue to struggle for the indigenous peoples of Mexico, but no longer solely for them nor solely with them, but for all the exploited and dispossessed of Mexico, with all of them, throughout the country. And when we say all the exploited of Mexico we are also speaking of our brothers and sisters who have had to go to the United States to seek work in order to survive.

From Vicente Fox, May 11, 2006, on an official state visit to Austria, before an audience at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna:

The best option for a Mexican is to migrate to the United States.(1)

SUMMARY: The recent marches and demonstrations of Latinos in the US announced the birth of a new movement in favor of migrants´ human and labor rights. Yet the demands articulated so far by the main pro-immigrants´ rights groups are limited in scope. They don´t address the push factors behind the emigration of thousands of migrants, e.g., the dysfunctional neoliberal economic policies promoted by the US, and supported by supine local governments. Given that the US is one of the principal backers of these policies, a growing Latino movement could and should redirect attention towards the root structural causes of migration.

Introduction

In recent weeks millions of people demonstrated in numerous cities in the United States to repudiate the growing antimigrant hysteria sweeping the country and the repressive migratory bills pending in the US congress. The response of Mexicans, Chicanos, Latin Americans, US citizens and migrants from diverse corners of the world broke records for the size of demonstrations in several cities.(2) These past few weeks were a milestone for the US Latino population in particular. Their numbers, strength, presence, economic and boycott power, their rage and pride, finally became visible to the average "Anglo" American. Latinos are no longer the "secret" labor force that Time magazine portrayed on its cover on February 16, 2006, barely a month before the first signs of discontent appeared on the streets.

The record-breaking demonstrations were the response to measures proposed, and approved in some states, that repress and oppress the most recent wave of immigrants, of the many that the United States has received throughout its 230-year history. Now it´s the Latinos´ turn, particularly the Mexicans, to face growing xenophobic sentiments in the US. Demonstrations began on March 25, 2006, grew throughout April, and culminated with a successful "Day without Migrants" on May 1st when millions of people again took to the streets. Now, both documented and undocumented migrants are planning to establish a national coordinating body to press for legal reforms that guarantee respect for migrants´ human and labor rights.(3)

see full article at:
http://www.ciepac.org/boletines/chiapas_en.php?id=505