According to Jalisco’s Department of Social Development (SEDIS), policies implemented by the Trump Administration targeting Mexican immigrants have, at least in some areas, had the opposite of their intended effect.
Going into further detail during a press conference at the second annual National Convention on Human Rights and Immigration in Guadalajara, SEDIS head Miguel Castro Reynoso pointed to an increase, rather than a decrease, as one would expect, of remittances to citizens of Jalisco from relatives working north of the border.
In addition, deportations of Jalisco citizens from the United States has dropped, not risen, by 34 percent from the same time last year.
“As of last Friday, the number of people deported is 6,412. If we compare that number with last year’s figure, we were at about 10,039,” said Castro.
In addition to his comments dealing with Jalisco citizenry and its diaspora outside Mexico, Castro touched on the issue of Central American immigration to Jalisco; the state receives about 6,000 illegal immigrants every year.
“Many Central Americans see Jalisco as a place where the ‘American Dream’ can be achieved, but much work needs to be done to make that happen,” said Castro, who placed particular importance on making sure immigrants’ legal rights were recognized and protecting them from organized crime. He stressed that local non-profits need to coordinate with the government, pointing to an exemplar of such a union, a state-funded soup kitchen in a Tlaquepaque shelter run by local priest Alberto Ruiz.
While Castro’s comments regarding Trump’s policies and Jalisco’s issues with immigration from Central America may seem mutually exclusive, it’s not hard to detect in his gesture an implied rebuke aimed at current U.S. policies regarding outsiders.
Trump blames Mexico for opioid crisis
U.S. President Trump has once again pointed his finger to the south to provide a scapegoat for a supposed national crisis, which in this case is the epidemic of opioid addiction which is said to be plaguing communities across United States. In a White House address Thursday, the mogul-turned-politician blamed not only Mexico for the gravity of the situation, but China, big pharma and “hardened criminals.” He then suggested that the completion of his pet project – a border wall with Mexico – would greatly stem the flow of opioids into the United States.