A Brief History of US-Mexico Relations
Mexican-American relations have always been tumultuous. Political, social and economic tensions centered around labor, migration and the rights and treatment of citizens and companies led at times to the deployment of troops and violent clashes in the region. It will be demonstrated that measures regarding cross border movement have often been used to address and assuage local and national concerns.
The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 settled border disputes between Spanish land and the Louisiana Territory. In return for Spain paying $5 million to settle the land claims of American citizens, the United States ceded Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, California and Nevada. Mexico won her independence in 1821, but peace and stability in the nascent State was short lived.
In 1830, to stop the influx of English-speaking settlers into Mexican territories, Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna prohibited immigration from the United States to Texas. In an attempt to enforce this law, he abolished slavery and imposed custom duties. His failure to accomplish to stop unwanted settlement culminated in his capture by Texan militiamen and the official independence of Texas in 1836.
Texas became part of the United States in 1845. The Mexican-American War of 1846 and 1848 treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo resulted in Mexico ceding present day Arizona, California, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Nevada. Many Mexican nationals became US citizens but lost their land due to fraud or capture.
In 1853, US President Franklin Pierce purchased 30 000 square kilometers of land along the Mesilla Valley to construct a railroad from El Paso to California for $10 million. Otherwise known as the Gadsden Purchase, this transaction marks the last adjustment of the US-Mexico border.
Immigration Policy in the 20th Century
The United States government took steps to regulate immigration in the 1920s. The 1921 Emergency Quota Act restricted the entry of Southern and Eastern Europeans. Although Mexican immigration remained unimpacted, the act established border stations to formally admit migrants and collect visa fees.
1921 also saw the creation of the US Border Patrol. This agency originally focused more on the border with Canada, but soon diverted its attention to the southern border. By 1930, 600,000 mexican immigrants were living inside the United States, 3 times as many as in 1910, not counting unaccounted for crossings.
During the Great Depression and the cataclysmic Dust Bowl in the Midwest, tens of thousands of farmers from the Midwest migrated to California in search of work. This major economic and demographic shift gave way to feelings of competition. Migrant workers from Mexico were seen as a strain of social services and competitors for employment. This tension led to the forced repatriation of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans and the flight of more who felt unwelcomed in the social and political climate.
In August of 1942, the US and Mexican governments inaugurated the Bracero Program, a labor program for temporary workers. The aim of the program was to compensate for the manpower shortage in the United States during WW2. The agricultural and railroad sectors were prioritized. Critics alleged that base wages, living accommodations, medical care and food were not being provided at a satisfactory level, as was stipulated by law. This program initiated the pattern of circular and unauthorized migration and exploitation seen today.
From the 1950s onward, concerns about illegal immigration are taken very seriously. In 1954, President Eisenhower launched Operation Wetback, a forced repatriation program managed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 1.3 million immigrants were repatriated.
The aforementioned Bracero Program ended in 1965, leading to migration back to Mexico. To give this unemployed labor force jobs, Mexico built and accommodated low cost American manufacturing plants along the border on Mexico’s side.
In 1969, President Richard Nixon announced the commencement of the war on drugs. To fight this war, extensive search-and-seizure counternarcotics operations were carried out along the border. Every person and vehicle entering the United States was searched, creating long lines. Mexico, angered by the fact that they hadn’t been consulted, arrived at a bilateral cooperation agreement. In 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was formed and engaged in operations in cooperation with the Mexican authorities.
American concern about border safety rose from 1994 to 1996. The Clinton administration increased spending on border security and pushed to expel all criminal aliens. Congress passed legislation which mandated jail time for criminal aliens and that empowered law enforcement in border states to enforce immigration laws.
Immigration Policy in the 21st Century
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the focus on securing the US’s borders intensified. President George Bush unsuccessfully proposed the development of a guest worker program. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security was created and Congress approved the hiring of an additional 10,000 border agents. This hiring surge left the force standing 21,000 strong. Mexican immigrant workers who used to return home instead opted to stay in the United States on account of the fear of being caught, deported, or denied reentry.
In 2010, following the March 13 killing of 3 people with connections to the US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton negotiated and launched Merida 2.0 in response to a spat of drug-trafficking related deaths totaling more than 2000.
That same year, a US District Judge blocked the offensive elements of SB 1070 from going into effect. The law mandated that police officers automatically check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws. In his decision, the Judge wrote that the law would impose, “extraordinary burden on legal resident aliens that only the federal government has the authority to impose. Both the American Federal government and Mexican government called for comprehensive immigration reform, not a “patchwork” solution. At the time the law passed, approximately half of the people stopped from entering the country illegally travelled through Arizona.
The Trump Administration’s Approach to the Southern Border
The Trump administration’s America First policy expressed a hard stance on immigration. His policies centered around 8 central themes; complete the border wall, reduce legal immigration, reduce the number of refugees and asylum seekers, exclude immigrants from social services, end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), restrict travel from certain countries and amend the H-1B visa program.
Trump left his promise to complete the wall on the 1,954 mile border unfulfilled. Previously, 650 miles of wall was built under the auspice of an authorization in 1996 and the 2006 Secure Fence Act. This barrier consists of walls, pedestrian fencing and vehicle barriers. Between 2007 and 2015, $2.4 billion was spent on this project. As most immigration to the United States is through tourist visas and other means, the wall is for the most part ineffective.
In an effort to reduce legal immigration, applicants who could need or use public services and benefits (food stamps, Medicaid, housing) may not be granted their desired immigration status. This vetting applied to applicants with green cards and nonimmigrant visas. The aim of the policy was to privilege the intake of high-income immigrants over those with low incomes.
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act states that any foreigner who comes to the United States “whether or not at a designated port of arrival,” may apply for asylum. During his presidency, Trump’s attempts to reduce the number of asylum seekers were illegal and therefore not allowed to be enforced. However, he did manage to restrict entry to designated ports and separate children from their parents. There are still many children separated from their families to this day. Efforts to reunify families are underway.
In 2017, the Trump administration halted the entry of refugees for 120 days unless their travel was previously scheduled to allow the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the use of the system by terrorists. He also attempted to half the intake of refugees to 50,000 per year but was unable to thanks to stayed orders by judges. Even so, only 53,691 refugees entered the US.
Thanks to a ruling by the US Court of Appeals on June 18 2020, Trump was unable to end the DACA program. This program is a lifeline to undocumented immigrants who were brought by their parents to the United States. DACA beneficiaries receive work permits and a social security number. They also pay taxes. This arrangement integrates them into the mainstream of American life.
The Trump administration restricted travel from certain countries through the imposition of travel bans against eight countries; Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. Syrian refugees were also barred from entering the United States.
Finally, Trump amended the H-1B visa program. In October 2020, he raised the wage requirement of foreign workers to a level similar to American workers. The eligibility criteria for applicants was raised. H-1B visas can only be awarded to foreign individuals with a bachelor’s degree or more. High-end fashion models and professions and jobs which require complex knowledge benefit from this scheme.
The Trump administration’s policies induced negative effects. The Center for American Progress estimated that mass deportation would reduce the national GDP by 1.4%, and that because farmers would face difficulties finding replacement workers, their production would drop to fit the lesser supply of labor. Contrary to the argument that immigrants are a drain on national resources, data from the CATO institute indicates that immigrants add $1.6 trillion to the national economy and contribute $35 billion in net benefits to the communities and companies where they work.
In fact, deportation policies are very expensive. According to the CATO Institute, the deportation of the 750,000 DACA beneficiaries would cost $60 billion and lead to $280 billion less in economic growth in the next decade.
The Biden Administration’s Planned Reconstruction and Reforms
The Biden administration has temporarily closed the Southern border of the United States while the immigration system is being repaired and revamped. This announcement comes after the House of Representatives passed two bills which allow for certain migrants to obtain permanent resident status. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas explained that although all families and single adults were being expelled, unaccompanied minors would be able to remain in the country. The justification for the closure is two pronged, amid a surge at the border, the US government requires time to rebuild the legal immigration mechanisms dismantled under the Trump administration.
One of the consequences of former President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy towards immigration is the separation of thousands families upon entry into the United States. When Immigration Officials separated families, the children were treated as unaccompanied minors and placed in detention centers for migrant youth. The pain and suffering of the affected families cannot be quantified or underestimated.
To remedy this dreadful situation, the Biden administration signed three Executive Orders which aim to reform the immigration system and undo the damage of the previous administration. A task force chaired by the Homeland Security Secretary will work to identify all the families which were separated as a result of the “zero tolerance” policy. The secretaries of state and health and human services will serve as vice-chairs to the task force and manage family reunification on a case by case basis, considering different immigration benefit determinations for different families.
Bibliography
Amadeo, Kimberly. “The Impact of Donald Trump’s Immigration Policies.” The Balance, 23 Feb. 2021, www.thebalance.com/donald-trump-immigration-impact-on-economy-4151107#restrict-legal-immigration.
Brown, Shelby. “Biden Immigration Reform: New Citizenship Bills and Border Closures and What That Means for Citizenship.” CNET, CNET, 23 Mar. 2021, www.cnet.com/how-to/biden-immigration-reform-new-citizenship-bills-and-border-closures-and-what-that-means-for-citizenship/.
Gittleson, Ben, and Quinn Owen. “Biden Creating Task Force to Reunite Families Separated at the Border.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 2 Feb. 2021, abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-create-task-force-reunite-families-separated-border/story?id=75619761&fbclid=IwAR2HCUiSXdQtL1uRIbsj36evk12D6p5WBbF3GOpz1nWpRdhfpV26uVl-H7c.
Levin, Sam. “’We Tortured Families’: The Lingering Damage of Trump’s Separation Policy.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Jan. 2021, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/04/trump-administration-family-separation-immigrants-joe-biden?fbclid=IwAR0pu0oJJQG740EPH7cNZEn4hi9qJdpuzHJw7MrbK4IQB8Z4wrvTKc700r8.
“Timeline: U.S.-Mexico Relations.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/timeline/us-mexico-relations.
Kieran McTague holds a BA cum laude in International Comparative Politics from the American University of Paris. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in International Affairs, Conflict Resolution, and Civil Society Development at the same institution. His thesis explores protection options available to persons displaced in the context of disasters and climate change in West Africa. He is an advocate for the rights of the child, passionate about education, and has volunteered in France and Greece on the behalf of asylum seekers.