As debate rages in the United States over Arizona’s new law permitting police to ask for a person’s papers based on ‘reasonable suspicion,’ pressure is building on the other side of the border to better protect Mexicans in the U.S. from mistreatment. Continuing our Mexican coverage of the issue, this article from La Jornada offers the view from across the border and shows how significant the contribution of Mexican workers is to the U.S. and Mexico – and suggests what steps should be taken to help them.
For La Jornada, this excerpt of the article by columnist Jaime Martinez Veloz offers some statistics:
Increased control of the border doesn’t necessarily prevent the growth of international mobility. When society and the structure of an economy demand labor, it always manages to cross the border – legally or illegally.
The contribution of migrants is one of the pillars of the Mexican economy. According to the Bank of Mexico and the Chamber of Deputies’ Center for Documentation, remittances amounted to $21.688.7 billion in 2005; $25.566 billion in 2006; $26.068.7 billion in 2007; $25.137.4 billion in 2008; and $22.566.8 billion in 2009. The drop since 2007 is due to the recession in the U.S., which has generated fewer job opportunities.
There are numerous statistics about the number of Mexicans in the United States. Varying depending on the source, estimates range between 24 and 30.5 million. If we consider the more conservative figure of 24 million Mexicans, 14 million are Americans of Mexican descent and 10 million were born in Mexico, and later migrated to the U.S. If we take the figure of 30.5 million people of Mexican origin, 19.3 million are Americans of Mexican descent and 11.2 million were born in Mexico and later migrated to the U.S.
People of Mexican descent or those born in Mexico represent 65.7 percent of all Hispanics in the United States; a total estimated at 46.8 million people and constituting 15.4 percent of the total population of that country. Practically speaking, in regard to Hispanics and Mexicans in particular, we are talking about a nation within a nation.
Our country cannot and must not stop actively working on measures to protect every one of these people, our own people, whose departure from Mexico somehow bleeds the county, leaving to foreigners such an important segment of our young people and labor force.
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