{"id":9750,"date":"2020-06-04T00:23:30","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T00:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lavozlit.com\/?p=9750"},"modified":"2020-06-04T00:23:30","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T00:23:30","slug":"mexicos-main-source-of-income-exploited-and-persecuted-immigrants-in-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/workersvoiceus.org\/es\/2020\/06\/04\/mexicos-main-source-of-income-exploited-and-persecuted-immigrants-in-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico\u2019s Main Source of Income: Exploited and Persecuted Immigrants in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 35 million Mexicans \u2013 affected by the misery and colonial plundering of this country \u2013 have emigrated to the United States for decades in search of a future for their families. In recent years, the overwhelming majority of them have suffered and continue to suffer discrimination, humiliation, and increasing persecution and deportation by governments \u2013 both Democrat and Republican. All this in light of the complete abandonment and absence of any defense by Mexican governments, faithful servants of the imperialist master.<\/em>
\nBy CST-Mexico (Corriente Socialista de Trabajadores) May\/11\/20<\/strong>
\n 
\nDuring his 2018 election campaign, L\u00f3pez Obrador visited many large U.S. cities and promoted rallies with our countrymen, where he squandered demagogy, promising to \u201cdefend the dignity of our people\u201d. However, his current government, despite this \u201csovereign\u201d rhetoric, has not differentiated itself in the least from its predecessors in the face of the growing wave of xenophobia and racism promoted by Donald Trump. We have all witnessed the servile attitude of Chancellor Marcelo Ebrard in response to blackmail from the White House boss. We all know that the newly founded Mexican National Guard acts as the \u201cBorder Patrol\u201d of the United States, not only in the North but also on the Southern border with Guatemala. We witnessed AMLO\u2019s permanent concessions to sign T-MEC, which perpetuates Mexico\u2019s colonial subjugation. Now L\u00f3pez Obrador \u2013 in the midst of the pandemic and the wave of Trump deportations \u2013 announced his intention to travel to the United States to celebrate such a surrender.
\nWith the Covid-19 pandemic that is especially raging in the U.S., it is once again Mexican migrants, along with African Americans, who are suffering most from infection and death in the big cities of the imperialist power. \u201cThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that, as of April 28, the number of Mexicans who had died in the United States from COVID-19 had risen to 566, in addition to 154 cases of contagion\u201d (El Universal 28-04-2020). This figure, from two weeks ago, is -of course- only a partial record due to the conditions in which many migrants and their families live, work and die.
\nMexican immigrants gave a lot of hope, work and money to AMLO\u2019s project. They expected a radical change in the Mexican consulates, once he would take office. However, that change never comes. The consulates continue to be business centers that profit from the needs of immigrants. There is mistreatment, neglect and humiliating contempt for those who request indispensable services. And they are charged very high fees. As with previous governments, they continue to restrict the hours and access to their facilities and services. The bureaucracy of\u00a0 \u201dinternet service\u201d-when not everyone has access to it- continues. Discontent is growing due to obstacles and preliminary appointments in order to be helped or to file complaints.
\nIn this context, the repression and new wave of deportations from Trump to migrants is even more outrageous. \u201cIn the first quarter of the year 57,475 Mexicans were deported. That is 14% more than the same period in 2019, according to official data\u201d\u2026 \u201cA quarter of the Mexicans deported by the United States in the first stage of the Covid-19 emergency were returned through Tijuana, Baja California, one of the most affected cities in Mexico\u201d\u2026 \u201cU.S. officials warn that they will not stop these migration controls, arguing that they will eliminate risks in the face of the expansion of the coronavirus, but they also affirm that with and without the pandemic they will continue with this vigilance against illegal migration\u201d\u2026 (La Jornada May 6, 2020).
\nAnd it\u2019s not just xenophobic and racist Trump and the states governed by the right wing of the Republican party. In fact, Baja California -where there are many deportations-, borders with California, supposed \u201cimmigrant sanctuary state\u201d, where not only four private detention centers for migrants are maintained, but their contracts were extended for 15 more years, days before this \u201dnew democrat law\u201d went into effect. This shows the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party and its allies, grouped into large NGOs, also in terms of their alleged \u201cdefense of immigrants.
\nNothing is being done by the Mexican government to confront this offensive against Mexican migrants. However, it has the nerve to present as \u201cgood news\u201d the sacrifice of those millions of countrymen and women, who with their modest remittances, sustain Mexico\u2019s economy. In his recent speech on Saturday, May 9, AMLO \u201chighlighted the remittances received in March, 4 billion dollars, as Mexico\u2019s main source of income, \u201cand I have information that April will be the same\u201d. He stated that migrants made 10 million remittances, each on average 380 dollars, equivalent to 9 thousand pesos\u201d. (La Jornada 10-05-2020).
\nIn other words, He recognizes that the value of the labor force of Mexicans abroad is the main support of the coffers of the Mexican state. And that has been the case for decades: last year total remittances were 36 billion dollars. This helped cover up the brutal decline in GDP in 2019, which grew by only 0.1 percent. This year, in the face of plummeting oil and tourism prices, remittances will be even more of a source of income.
\nLet\u2019s demand the government of L\u00f3pez Obrador:<\/p>\n