Here’s an axiom, slightly altered, that a great businessman like President Trump must have heard once or twice before: If you want something done, you have to do it yourself— and never, ever count on Mexico.
The thrust of a Washington Post story on Monday was the hardship Mexicans are set to endure now that their government has agreed to “help” the United States halt the hundreds of thousands of migrants making their way to our border from Central America.
But the most newsworthy part of the whole article comes a swift 11 paragraphs in:
Wait, you mean to tell me that the Mexican government, known for its pristine operation and above-the-board ethics, is coming up short on the job?! You don’t say.
A 54-year-old woman from Honduras told the Post that she paid Mexican officials to pass through Juarez so that she could reach the U.S. “They said if you want to enter you have to pay.” Once she reached the U.S., however, she was returned to Mexico to wait. “This is extortion,” she said.
Give the Trump administration credit for trying to turn our immigration problem into a shared one with Mexico by threatening tariffs on its goods lest they contribute in stopping the flood of Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Salvadorans pushing their way north. But anyone could have predicted this.
If the stove in your mansion catches fire, you can quickly try to put it out yourself or you can threaten to spread the flame to your neighbor’s yard if they don’t help. How seriously is the threat taken if your neighbor is a meth addict in a mobile home? They don’t care about your home, they need money for more meth.
In the U.S., Congress has failed to take the immigration problem seriously, so Trump is instead attempting to outsource the issue. The administration is dumping resources in Guatemala to aid in breaking up the human smuggling trade that moves Central Americans to the U.S. Trump has also asked Mexico to put a stop on the influx of people moving through the country before it arrives here.
There has been a brief decrease in the thousands of monthly apprehensions at the U.S.-southern border in June, but that’s it. And the month isn’t even over. More importantly, it’s not a permanent fix. When Trump leaves office, perhaps as early as January 2021, there will be nothing in place to ensure that Mexico or Guatemala continue helping.
It was a valiant effort to pressure Mexico on working with the U.S. on our own immigration problem. But here’s another slightly altered maxim from the business world, perhaps known to Trump and certainly known to the scores of migrants plowing through Mexico up to America: Money talks, and the price of admission is about $15 or $20.
