On May 19th, 2024, the three Mexican presidential candidates participated in their third and final presidential debate. (The election is scheduled for June 2nd).
For my reports on the first and second debates, click here and here.
For a transcript of the third debate, click here.
The three candidates in the debates were Claudia Sheinbaum of the incumbent president’s MORENA party, Xochitl Galvez of the PAN/PRI/PRD coalition, and Jorge Alvarez Maynez of the Movimiento Ciudadano.
One of the topics of the third debate was immigration. This is not surprising, as Mexico deals with immigration in three ways: 1) Mexico is a source of immigrants, mostly to the United States. 2) Mexico is a thoroughfare of migrants passing through its territory, mostly to get to the United States. 3) Mexico is a destination of some immigrants, who wind up living in Mexico.
Mexico’s political elite pays close attention to immigration politics in the United States and actually intervenes in U.S. politics to further the interests of the Mexican government on U.S. soil.
Here are some relevant quotes from Mexican candidates in the third debate.
MEXICO’S SOUTHERN BORDER When asked about the flow of migrants from Latin America into Mexico, Candidate Xochitl Galvez said that “The first thing is, we must be clear that today the southern border is in the hands of the criminals. Today the criminals control migration and that is very serious.”
REMITTANCES – Mexicans in the U.S. send billions in remittances back to Mexico, which amounted to 63.3 billion dollars last year. Claudia Sheinbaum said “First, I want to greet the male Mexicans and female Mexicans abroad, particularly the fellow Mexicans in the United States….to thank them for the remittances that they send to our country.”
TRUMP – Alvarez Maynez said that “Mexico needs firmness and intelligence in its relationship with the United States, especially if a racist such as Trump comes to power.“
TRUMP POLICIES AND ILLEGAL ALIEN AMNESTY
As U.S. president, Donald Trump used his foreign policy authority to get Mexico to reduce the quantity of migrants passing through Mexican territory on the way to the U.S. and take back migrants in the Remain in Mexico program. Opposition Candidate Xochitl Galvez thinks the current government did too much for Trump with nothing in return : “The migratory policy of MORENA (party of the current government) is hypocritical. The Fourth Transformation (current government) folded before Donald Trump, accepting the return of migrants from other countries, without demanding, at least, that there would be a regularization (amnesty) of our fellow Mexicans who live in the United States.”
Xochitl Galvez is saying that Mexico shouldn’t have cooperated with Trump without demanding amnesty for illegal alien Mexicans in the United States. And she had more to say about that subject: “We are going to demand a program of regularization for the migrants in the United States [amnesty for illegal aliens]“
FOREIGN WORKERS IN THE UNITED STATES
Xochitl Galvez : “…[W]e are going to broaden the program of workers in the United States…” [You would think that would be the business of the U.S. Congress.]
MEXICAN CONSULATES
Mexico has 52 consulates on U.S. soil, the biggest consular network in the world. Xochitl Galvez pledged “to grant resources to the consulates” by which she means “more money”.
MEXICANS IN THE UNITED STATES: This is an important issue that many Americans don’t understand. Consider the words of all three candidates:
CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM: “First, I want to greet the male Mexicans and female Mexicans who are abroad, particularly the fellow Mexicans who are in the United States, more than 30 million Mexicans....”
JORGE ALVAREZ MAYNEZ: “Mexico is much more than its territory, not only are we the 130 million persons who live here, we are also the 40 million male Mexicans and female Mexicans who live in all the world.”
XOCHITL GALVEZ : “Mexico is a country of 170 million inhabitants divided by a river.”
So all 3 candidates, despite their differences, regard Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, even those born in the United States, as essentially Mexican, even if they have U.S. citizenship. This is also Mexican government policy.
It’s understandable that the Mexican government promotes such a policy. However, should the U.S. government encourage it?
Shouldn’t U.S. immigration and citizenship policies take this Mexican policy into account?