The pachyderm in a room is cliche. But I think it’s apt and eye-catching. It’s one that purported experts, self-styled media experts and every sort of politician can’t see or pretend not decipher.
This is it: psychically shutting down undocumented migration is quite similar to seeking regulation of the rising and the setting of the sun. Or the seasons of the year.
The millions of people, ignoring dangers, cannot be shut off. Border cops and laws can only act as filters, and not particularly effective. What governor has not trekked to the border to get a lot of photos of him or her looking grim and telling us, yes, we have a crisis?
Talk of shutting down the border is just that. $800 billion in U.S. Mexico trade hit its highest point ever last year.
Nearly 5 million US jobs depend on trade with Mexico, and political rhetoric jeopardizing these jobs should be more governed by the facts. Mexico creates US jobs, but those jobs depend on upon a system of cooperation that could disappear if politicians are not careful to better appreciate the unique relationship between the two countries.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, yammers about the evils of migration, somehow failing to note this:
The state’s largest market was Mexico. Texas exported $129.5 billion in goods to Mexico in 2023, representing 29 percent of the state’s total goods exports.
Mexico was followed by Canada ($35.9 billion), Netherlands ($26.6 billion), China ($26.5 billion), and Korea, South ($21.1 billion).
Ricardo Chavira Chicano 