Mexico's Future Is Intertwined with Ours

(This is a piece I wrote in June, 2007, which was published on another site. After four years, I don’t see the need to change a single word.)

When I was in high school I was hired off and on to help a local land surveyor. I went with him on surveys all over our home state of New Mexico. One large tract was located south of Columbus, the town Pancho Villa raided in 1916. Its south boundary was the international border with Mexico.

The border at this place was marked by a barbed-wire fence that looked just like all the other barbed-wire fences that crisscross the West. I suppose there were marker stones here and there, but there was nothing immediately visible to indicate that this fence separated two widely diverse countries.

This was grazing land, on both sides. All that could be seen in either direction along the fence was grass, rolling hills, an occasional cow.

I think of that lonesome stretch of land when I hear people suggest that all we need to solve our immigration problems with Mexico is a secure fence.

About half of our common border looks just like this. The other half runs along the centerline of the Río Grande, a river famously described as “too thin to plow, too thick to drink.”

The distance is 1,951 miles.

Could a “secure fence” be built across such a long distance?

Sure. It would be about 70 times as long as the Berlin Wall, which was 28 miles, but less than half the length of the Great Wall of China, which stretched for 3,948 miles. There’s plenty of historical precedence for such barriers; they often outlive the regimes that build them.

The cost would be astonishing, even if our “great wall” was just an electrified fence. It wouldn’t just be the cost of construction, of course. Any kind of barrier would require maintenance, energy, and human oversight.

Meanwhile, some 350 million people a year cross that border through legal points of entry. They include busloads of tourists, semi loads of all sorts, hordes of pedestrians. They all expect to make the crossing with minimal delay. The commerce they conduct is economically beneficial to both countries. Obviously, maintaining security while allowing that commerce is a difficult job. Any increase in security measures that slows down the flow causes an immediate outcry from the people who depend upon the border, many of whom are quite influential.

All borders are artificial. Even if they are maintained with rigid military zeal, such as in East Germany before the wall came down or in North Korea to this day, there are people on both sides who have relatives, interests, histories, and memories on the other side. Those people will do what they can to return.

Perhaps a better approach than building a great wall would be to help Mexico come closer to its potential. It is a country rich with natural resources, and it has a huge workforce. It has many natural wonders. Its people and their culture are delightful. The population is well educated: 98% of children attend primary school, 64% go to secondary school, and 23% go on to college.

Mexico also has many problems. It is ruled more by money than by law; corruption is endemic. A mordida, or “bite,” of the proper amount – you might call it an institutionalized bribe – will remove obstacles faster than a cadre of lawyers can do in this country. There is an oppressive class structure composed of a few who are very rich and the many who are very poor. Environmental controls are lax.

Despite its shortcomings, Mexico is attractive in many ways. It has lots of petroleum and many kinds of minerals. It has cheap beer and cheap but wonderful food. It has beautiful scenery and many miles of beaches.

Its main asset is its large, underutilized labor pool. If we could help Mexico create jobs for some of these people, they would be less likely to brave the dangers entailed in an illegal border crossing.

As it is, the United States is getting the most courageous and resourceful of Mexico’s citizens. Many of them come here to work but continue to support those less able back home. Many of them would like to return but cannot because there are no economic opportunities there.

That’s a real waste. It seems probable that the United States will rely on Mexican imports more and more in the future. Our destinies are intertwined. We need to open doors to Mexico, not seal them up. We need to encourage trade and promote the ideals that have improved the lives of our own citizens.

We don’t need to build a fence.