POLL: Mexicans Support Stronger Controls on Immigration
Jose Nino
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According to a survey conducted by The Washington Post and Mexico’s Reforma newspaper, Mexicans are frustrated with mass migration after a year of increased migration from Central America.
More than 6 out of 10 Mexicans claim that migrants are a burden on the country due to them taking away jobs and benefits that belong to Mexicans. 55 percent of Mexicans support deporting migrants who travel by way of Mexico to reach the United States.
This is in contrast to the popular perception of Mexico—a country that is known for the millions of migrants it sends to America—being a country that is receptive towards the surge of Central Americans. Instead, the data show that Mexicans are beginning to disapprove of the massive waves of Central Americans going through their country.
This survey of 1,200 Mexican adults was carried out after Mexico decided to beef up its immigration enforcement after coming to an agreement with the Trump administration in June to increase enforcement efforts. In exchange, Trump decided to pull back on his threat to impose tariffs on Mexican goods.
During the last year, Mexico witnessed growing numbers of Central Americans moving through their country to make their way to the U.S. Once at Mexico’s northern border, these migrants waited for months to take advantage of America’s false asylum claims, putting a major strain on local municipalities on the Southern border which BLP reported on.
The Reforma survey uncovered that 7 percent of Mexicans say their country should provide pathways to residency for Central American immigrants traveling through Mexico and making an attempt to enter the U.S. Another 33 percent are in favor of allowing these migrants to temporarily stay in Mexico while the U.S. decides on their admission.
However, a 55 percent majority says they should be deported to their home countries. Indeed, Mexico has every reason to worry about mass migration, since it is often a country that Central American migrants must pass through just to get stateside.
One part of the Trump strategy moving forward should be to cooperate with Mexico in stemming this flow of migrants. After all, they are America’s neighbor and there is a shared interest in trying to tame the flow of migrants.
Mass migration in today’s context of a welfare state is problematic. Europe is already showing signs of what it’s capable of doing to country’s social cohesion when left unchecked.
For that reason, American voters do see it as the #1 issue heading into the 2020 elections. To bring a saner immigration policy to America, the Trump administration will have to work vigorously at the domestic and international level to get immigration under control in our hemisphere.
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