Mexican President Vicente Fox’s proposal Sunday for an open border between the United States, Mexico and Canada was distinctly wrong-headed. His remarks were particularly unfortunate because there was solid work to be done this week at the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico.
Despite the discord, the United States and its neighbors continue to share common interests. The developing countries of the Western Hemisphere want to solve their entrenched problems, and they seek America’s help. The United States, in turn, wants to prevent the consequences of those problems — such as emigration and narcotics trafficking — from emerging on its shores.
Mr. Fox set the wrong tone. On “Fox News Sunday,” he said all immigration barriers between the United States, Canada and Mexico should be removed to allow people to live and work in the country of their choosing. In practice, such an open border means that large numbers of Mexicans will choose the United States. “On the long term, this North American bloc can be the leading bloc on the world and be the most competitive bloc on the world by working together and, through that, be able to keep increasing the quality and the level of life of our citizens,” he said.
His remarks do not contribute to a realistic dialogue on immigration. Indeed, Mr. Fox’s own past statements indicate the Mexican president is well aware the United States will not have an open border with Mexico. In a 2000 interview, Mr. Fox indicated the kind of conditions that would be necessary for such an open-border policy to be realistic: “I’m talking about a community of North America, an integrated agreement of Canada, the United States and Mexico in the long term, 20, 30, 40 years from now,” he told PBS’ Jim Lehrer. “That may mean in 10 years we can open up that border when we have reduced the gap in salaries and income.” As Mr. Fox is well aware, the gap in salaries between America and Mexico hasn’t decreased. Nor is it remotely conceivable the American people would consent to such an open border.
Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) became effective 10 years ago, wages in Mexico have fallen in real terms. This lack of wage growth is one reason why the number of Mexicans living illegally in the United States has more than doubled since NAFTA went into effect.
The unfulfilled expectations for NAFTA demonstrate that the United States needs a broader agenda. A closer watch must be kept on how aid is used in the region, making sure, for example, that public funds for university education don’t come at the expense of primary education. U.S. officials should intensify efforts to give low-income workers access to small loans, since this tends to be a low-cost but effective aid policy. Finally, counternarcotic strategy should be more focused on border control than crop eradication.
The less posturing at these summits, the more likely it is that useful changes can be made. Given the laundry list of troubles in the Americas, constructive and creative thinking is sorely needed.
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