Frontera NorteSur January-March  2005

Nuevo Laredo: Migration and Deportation       

In 2004 approximately 5,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested in Nuevo Laredo. As part of the deportation process the immigrants were examined by doctors working for the Instituto Nacional de Migración (National Migration Institute). One of these medical professionals is Dr. Esmeralda Almaza who spoke to the Tamaulipas, on-line, news source EnLínea Directa about the experiences of the detainees with whom she works. 

Almaza says that she and her coworkers examine 365 to 400 people per month who came to Nuevo Laredo to cross the Rio Grande into the United States. Of those arrested she says that 80% are from Honduras, 10% from El Salvador, and 5% from Guatemala.  The rest are primarily from Nicaragua, Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba.

Foreigners from China, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy and Hungary are also among those she examined throughout the year. Almaza said that people from these countries arrive at certain times of the year and are apprehended in groups. This has led her to conclude that they are sent in multi-person shipments by human trafficking organizations. 

Many of the immigrants that Almaza works with complain that they are mistreated by authorities on their trajectory to Nuevo Laredo. Some say that they had paid organizations in their country of origin to take them to the US but that they were abandoned at the border. Once at the border the migrants are often contacted by local smugglers who offer to take them to the US for a price.

Almaza worries that female migrants may be easily enslaved in Mexico. Since it is expensive for the Mexican government to return them to their homes in China or Europe Almaza fears that they may not be deported at all but could instead be destined to the sex trade after their arrest. Whether Almaza was only speculating as to this possibility or was denouncing an existing practice is unclear from the article.

Source: EnLínea Directa (Tamaulipas), January 10, 2005. Article by Gastón Monge.

Legislators Go After Remittance Monies

Targeting the $20 billion-plus dollars in remittances that flow from the United States to Mexico, state legislators in Arizona and Texas are considering taxing electronic money transfers to pay for what they contend are immigration-related border security and social service costs.

In Arizona , a House appropriations committee approved a resolution last week that would slap an 8 percent state tax on electronic money transfers abroad. The tax will be used to pay for a double and triple-walled border fence between Arizona and Mexico . The proposed wall is in addition to the one envisioned in HR 4437, the Sensenbrenner immigration bill, passed by the US House of Representatives late last year.

Arizona State Representative Russell Pearce (R-Mesa) defended HCR 2037 as a necessary tool to stop illegal immigration. Pearce said remittances should be subject to taxation because undocumented workers are "paid under the table" or maximize tax withholdings on their paychecks. Pearce estimated the remittance tax would generate $80 million dollars every year. US citizens and legal residents of Arizona also would be required to pay the tax when sending money abroad.

Opposed by Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano, HCR 2037 must now work its way through both houses of the Republican-controlled Arizona state legislature. The resolution will also appear as a ballot initiative in next November's state election.

Although Mexican media so far haven't given the same amount of attention to HCR 2037 as they did to the Sensenbrenner bill last year, sharp reaction to a remittance tax is already coming from some quarters. Lauro Lopez Sanchez, an assistant secretary in the federal Interior Ministry, called HB a "completely irrational measure." Lopez insisted that Mexican workers in the United States pay taxes from which they do not fully benefit. "(HCR 2037 ) is not going to prosper," Lopez predicted.

In Texas , meanwhile, a bill that taxes remittance monies is under consideration by state legislators. Sponsored by legislators Royce West of Dallas and Vilma Luna of Corpus Christi , HB 2345 would use money from a remittance tax to pay for emergency hospital costs. A similar measure died last year in the Texas state legislature. Spokesmen for Texas state Senator Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso), slammed HB 2345 as another "attack on the rights of immigrants."

Sources: El Diario de Juarez, February 18, 2006. Article by Lorena Figueroa. La Jornada, February 18, 2006. Article by Fabiola Martinez. El Financiero, February 17, 2006 . Arizona Daily Star, February 16, 2006 .

Shelters See More Minor Deportees

A Mexican government agency that assists indigent children and families reports a spike in cases of unaccompanied minors deported from the United States in the Sonora-Arizona border region. Flor Ayala Robles Linares, the director of the Integral Family Development (DIF) agency in Sonora , said in a recent interview that shelters in three Sonora border cities took in more than 600 minors last month. The minors were helped at state and municipal shelters located in San Luis Rio Colorado , Nogales and Agua Prieta. Ayala said minor assistance needs are especially great in Sonora and neighboring Baja California .

"There aren't many (minor deportees) in Chihuahua and Coahuila," Ayala said. " Baja California and Sonora account for 80 percent of the repatriations." According to Ayala, getting the children back home frequently poses a challenge. Nonetheless, she said about 98 percent of minors attended by the Sonora DIF last year were successfully placed with relatives.

"We haven't failed in returning them," Ayala said, "due to the assistance of the state DIF, which has helped us find the families of the children. Sometimes it takes us 3 or 4 weeks, but we manage to locate the relatives."

In 2005, the Sonora DIF served 6,700 minors. Ayala said her agency plans to set up a mobile home this year in Agua Prieta in order to better serve minor repatriates.

Source: El Sol del Centro (Aguascalientes)/Cambio Sonora, February 19, 2006.