One of my more random predictions was that Trump and the new leftist president of Mexico, AMLO, were going to get along constructively. So far, they are, and it’s driving Conquistador-American Spanish language newscaster Jorge Ramos crazy. On the NYT opinion page, His Translucentness writes:
Mexico, Don’t Stand in the Way of Central American Migrants Headed for the U.S.
The American immigration system needs a complete makeover, but López Obrador’s government shouldn’t act as an extension of the Border Patrol.By Jorge Ramos
Mr. Ramos is a contributing opinion writer and an anchor for the Univision network.Feb. 7, 2020
Mexico is now the wall. President Trump got his wish.
The heart-wrenching images documenting a recent confrontation in the state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, are evidence of this. Dozens of Mexican National Guard troops equipped with helmets, batons and transparent shields coalesced on the highway connecting the Mexican cities of Ciudad Hidalgo and Tapachula to stop a caravan of migrants heading to the United States from Central America.
The guardsmen used pepper spray on the caravan, which as of mid-January included about 4,000 people, many of them women and children. In the end, hundreds were detained, sent back to Guatemala or deported to Honduras. A spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the actions of the National Guard, saying that the use of force to stop and disperse immigrants should be avoided.
Mexico has effectively turned into an extension of Mr. Trump’s immigration police beyond American territory. And this is the case on multiple fronts: On the southern border with Guatemala, they prevent Central American migrants from coming into Mexico; on the northern one, they block those seeking entry to the United States from leaving. The decision of Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also known as AMLO, to follow this approach is misguided. He should let migrants continue their journey north.
