Latino Lawmakers Ask Rubio to Stop Blocking U.S. Envoy to Mexico

Latin American Herald Tribune: A total of 19 U.S. Latino lawmakers sent a letter to Republican presidential hopeful – and Florida senator – Marco Rubio asking him to stop blocking confirmation of the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, Roberta Jacobson, as ambassador to Mexico, congressional officials reported Monday.

The legislators emphasized the U.S. government’s need to have a diplomatic representative in the capital of our southern neighbor as soon as possible, given that – after the exit of the man who had filled that post up until July, Tony Wayne – the post is vacant. Read more.

Faces from the Border: Choosing Friends

New Yorker: Today, about half of the guardians of the border—U.S. Border Patrol agents—are Hispanic, and many have roots in both countries. Consider agent Yesenia León, aged thirty-three. She was born in a small town in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua and came across the border legally when she was four thanks to her father, a U.S. citizen. León, the youngest of six children, was raised in El Paso.

She graduated from Bowie High School, which back then, she says, was known as “La Bowie” because the south-central school had a reputation for its cholos, or gang members. It was also known as the place that had, through a 1992 federal lawsuit, changed the way the agents operated in border cities. The Border Patrol agency routinely stopped and questioned Hispanics near the high school, located just a few feet from the border. The lawsuit brought by Bowie students and staff successfully made a case against racial profiling that has had a major impact on Border Patrol procedures throughout the Southwest. Read more.

Latinos Are Shaping the Future of the United States

American Progress: The Latino community is becoming increasingly important to the economy, culture, and politics of the United States. Today, more than 55 million people—almost one-fifth of the U.S. population—are Hispanic, two-thirds of whom are of Mexican origin. Latinos in the United States are reaching new heights in educational attainment, making significant economic gains, and dramatically changing the political landscape. Within the next two decades, these developments will have profound implications for the United States, Mexico, and the rest of the Americas.

As the nature of the Latino diaspora populations has changed, so have the perspectives in their countries of origin. For instance, Mexicans and their diaspora in the United States have largely taken each other for granted. Although the two populations have ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural roots in common, prejudice and stereotypes have long prevailed in what has amounted to an “us” and “them” relationship. Read more.

Family, border dangers keep Mexicans from returning to US

AP: There are many reasons for the historic reversal of migration between the U.S. and Mexico, according the Pew Research Center, which announced Thursday that more than 1 million Mexicans headed south to re-establish their lives in the last five years, while only 870,000 migrated north to the U.S.

Some have grown tired of living in the shadow of the law, and say border jumping has become too dangerous. Jobs are easier to find now in Mexico, and family ties are powerful. Here are some of their stories. Read more.

Study: More Mexicans Returning to Mexico Than Entering U.S.

Latin American Herald Tribune: More Mexicans are returning to their homeland than are emigrating to the United States, with a net outflow from this country of 140,000 between 2009 and 2014, according to a report released on Thursday.

The report, prepared by the Pew Research Center, says that more Mexican immigrants have returned to Mexico from the U.S. than have migrated here since the end of the Great Recession. Read more.

Merida Initiative Supports Mexican Organizations to Advance Bilateral Efforts on Crime & Violence Prevention

US Embassy: The Embassy of the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide funding over the next three years to support local Mexican organizations working in the area of crime and violence prevention in Mexico. The funding is part of the Merida Initiative, a historic cooperation mechanism that acknowledges the shared responsibilities of the United States and Mexico to counter drug-fueled violence threatening citizens on both sides of the border.

USAID/Mexico is partnering with four local organizations to support crime and violence prevention efforts in Mexico.  The work by these organizations will focus on two objectives: 1) Generating opportunities for at-risk youth to contribute productively in their communities; and, 2) Supporting efforts to facilitate the replication of successful crime prevention models through strategic partnerships. Read more.

Mexico Military Responds to Human Rights Scandals with Helmet Cameras

InSight Crime: Mexico's military is to introduce body cameras for soldiers as part of efforts to rebuild a human rights record tarnished by recent scandals, but experiences elsewhere suggest such measures alone will not be enough to end abuse and impunity.

Mexico's National Defense Secretary (Sedena) has announced a plan to install 2,245 video cameras on the helmets of military personnel, reported Milenio. The initiative stems from recommendations made by the National Human Rights Commission (CDNH) in response to the Tlatlaya massacre in 2014, in which 22 people were allegedly executed by military officers. Read more.

Drug Tunnels Along the U.S.-Mexico Border: High Costs, High Rewards

Newsweek: More than 80 tunnels have been discovered between Mexico and the United States since 2006, most recently this past Thursday after a six-month investigation by the U.S. government resulted in a large smuggling tunnel being uncovered, as well as 22 arrests and the recovery of 12 tons of marijuana.

The tunnel, about 32 feet underground, runs about 2,880 feet, between the Otay Center Warehouse in San Diego and another warehouse in Tijuana. In a statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Finn said the tunnel is believed to have a railroad system, lighting and electricity throughout.

Mexican AG's office apologizes to parents for 12-year-old migrant's death

EFE: The Mexican Attorney General’s Office publicly apologized to an Ecuadorian couple for the March 2014 death of their 12-year-old daughter at a children’s shelter in the northern state of Chihuahua.

The deputy attorney general for human rights, crime prevention and community services, Eber Omar Betanzos Torres, “addressed some words to the parents,” who live in the United States, at the Consulate General of Ecuador in New York, the AG’s office said in a statement Tuesday.

A message to Mexico on abuses

mySA: The United States, in the interest of bilateral harmony, has been looking the other way too long when it comes to Mexico’s human rights abuses. That the State Department found it could do so no longer says something about our southern neighbor’s continuing slide into that morass under the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto.

The U.S. is withholding only a fraction — $5 million — of the $195 million in Merida Initiative funding to aid in the fight against vicious drug cartels. This is meant to send a message that the United States will no longer take Mexico’s assurances on human rights at face value. Read more.

U.S. Cuts Off $5 Million in Security Aid to Mexico

WSJ: Signaling disapproval of recent human rights violations in Mexico, the U.S. government is withholding $5 million in funding for the country’s security and judicial system, officials have confirmed.

The money is a small fraction in funding that was to be disbursed by the State Department this year under the eight year old Merida Initiative, through which the U.S. Congress so far has appropriated more than $2.3 billion in aid earmarked to train and equip Mexico’s security forces and to improve its judicial system.

The Ugly Truth: Mexican-Americans Despise Mexico

El Universal (Translated by World Meets): There is an urban legend going around: Hillary Clinton asked some of her [Mexican] supporters a couple of years ago: Why don't Mexican-Americans get along with Mexicans in Mexico?

The befuddlement of the current democratic presidential hopeful over the mystery is widely shared. The Israeli, Irish, Italian, Cuban, Chinese, Indian, Colombian and Salvadorian diasporas – all far less numerous in the United States than the Mexican – provide support to their countries of origin. They support the agendas of their government in Washington, finance their candidate's campaigns for elected office, and strengthen their communities abroad.

Our case is very different. Among some second, third or fourth generation Mexicans grievances persist: my father, grandfather - my ancestors - were obliged to emigrate for lack of opportunity, and on top of that they called us traitors to our country and the Virgin of Guadalupe. It isn't so much a rejection of Mexico as it is of the class-related and racist codes that even today prevent upward social mobility in Mexico. Read more.

U.S. Republicans Expose 'Dark Face' of a Nation

La Jornada (Translation by World Meets): Few would have imagined Trump's rebound in the opinion polls after his rude declarations against migrants, women and the gay community. Reality put the lie to those who doubted him. A few days after each of these statements he again appeared atop the opinion polls - the preference for a large segment of voters. Moreover, surgeon Ben Carson, who not long ago was last on the list, has rose high after declaring the unsuitability of Muslims to be president of the United States.

The conclusion to draw is rather clear: in the nation which pretends to shelter every human being regardless of race, creed or color, at least declaratively, there are many who don't share those ideals. So it isn't unusual for other candidates of the same party to pontificate about the necessity of building walls to keep the infidels out of the Promised Land. Read more.

Remittances to Mexico Rise More Than 6% in First 8 Months of 2015

Latin American Herald Tribune: Remittances sent to Mexico by emigrants totaled $16.6 billion in the first eight months of 2015, up 6.07 percent compared to the same period last year, when they came in at $15.6 billion, the Bank of Mexico said.

The average remittance was $296 in the January-August period, slightly higher than the $294 average registered in the same period last year, the central bank said in a statement on Thursday. 

Mexico's U.S. Ambassador Reflects Nieto's 'Contempt for Diplomacy'

El Universal (Translated by: World Meets): The foreign secretary's recent appointments to our embassy in the United States speak to the contempt of President Peña Nieto's diplomacy. These appointments are being made after six months of vacant representation in Washington. During that time, Barack Obama nominated Roberta Jacobson, who has impeccable diplomatic credentials, as the next ambassador for Mexico. However, Peña Nieto opted for an old family friend from Mexico City to occupy the office, Miguel Basanez, who while is a respectable university professor, has no experience in the Foreign Service.

The already-ratified ambassador just held a disastrous meeting with senators from the National Action Party [PAN – now the main opposition party]. He acknowledged his lack experience but boasted of "citizen diplomacy." He suggested not reacting to the tough language of Donald Trump, "because it would grant him a level of recognition he lacks, since only one in 15 people in the U.S. follow him." He claimed that abuse of our migrants by U.S. authorities is a myth, and downplayed the negative image of Mexico projected by recent corruption scandals because, "the Americans are accustomed to dealing with African countries which are equally or more corrupt than ours."

Understanding Mexico's passport requirement

San Diego Union Tribune: Mexico’s top immigration official in Baja California worked Tuesday to assuage fears of long southbound pedestrian lines into the country as his agency prepares to step up enforcement of a requirement that U.S. visitors carry a passport when entering Mexico.

“We are going to do everything possible to ensure that there are no obstacles,” Rodulfo Figueroa said during a news conference at the offices of the Tijuana Tourism and Conventions Committee. "We're going to start applying the law gradually. We know there is going to be a learning period, we won't be inflexible in applying the law, but certainly we'll try to educate the public." Read more. 

Daughter of farm workers nominated

Mexico News Daily: The daughter of Mexican immigrant farm workers has been nominated the next American ambassador to Mexico.

Maria Echaveste, 60, is President Barack Obama’s choice to replace Anthony Wayne, who leaves the post this month after three years. Read more.

Mexico denounces deployment of National Guard in Texas border

Noticias MVS: Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government of Mexico reiterated its "strongest rejection" and condemnation of the deployment of these military forces and said it is "irresponsible to manipulate the current state of border security for political purposes."

The government of Mexico reiterated its strongest condemnation of the deployment of the first units of the National Guard of Texas, announced Wednesday by the office of the state governor, Rick Perry.

Through a statement, the Foreign Ministry said that our country states that it is irresponsible to manipulate the current state of border security for political purposes and reiterated that migration must be addressed from a holistic and regional perspective, with a medium-term shared vision that guarantees peace, inclusion and prosperity in the region.

He added that the action taken unilaterally by the government of Texas is undoubtedly wrong and does not contribute to the efforts undertaken by both countries to build a secure border and a solution to migration. This decision does not accredit the collaboration among civil society and opposes the principles and values on which Mexico and the United States govern their bilateral relationship.

Translated by Nidia Bautista 

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Mexican prosecutors defend treatment of Marine held on weapons charge

LA Times 
By Tony Perry

Under pressure from politicians in the U.S. to release a Marine reservist being held on a weapons charge, the Mexican attorney general's office has taken the unusual step of defending its handling of the case.

The case against Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who was arrested April 1 and remains in jail, has been handled according to Mexican law and any allegation of mistreatment is "baseless," according to a statement issued Friday by the attorney general's office.

The attorney general's office "reiterates its commitment to the observance of human rights and respect for due process of all arrested."

Tahmooressi, 25, who served two tours in Afghanistan, was arrested after crossing the border at San Ysidro with three weapons and dozens of rounds of ammunition in his pickup truck, officials said.

Initially kept in the notorious La Mesa prison near Tijuana, he has since been transferred to the El Hongo prison outside in Tecate, where conditions are better, according to Tahmooressi's supporters. Read more. 

U.S., Mexico Agree to Tell Migrant Mexican Workers in U.S. About Their Rights

Latin American Herald Tribune 
April 7, 2014

Mexican Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare Jesús Alfonso Navarrete Prida and U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez signed a joint ministerial declaration that will result in action to inform Mexican workers in the United States about their labor rights under U.S. laws.

The action falls under the provisions of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, a side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. Department of Labor said in an April 3 press release.

The Mexican Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare had requested ministerial consultations with the Department of Labor on issues raised in three public submissions filed with the Mexican secretariat under the Agreement on Labor Cooperation. The submissions concerned the rights of Mexican migrants working in the United States on H-2A and H-2B visas in sectors such as agriculture, forestry, food packing, fairs and carnivals.  Read more.