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 Americas & Beyond | April 2008 
Mexican Immigrant Leaders End Conference With Clear Goals
 Dianne Solís - Dallas Morning News
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 |  | Helping to bring people back to Mexican society is a legitimate function for the Mexican government.
- Ira Mehlman |  | | | |
A three-day conference of Mexican immigrant leaders in Dallas illustrated both the depth of Mexican migration to the U.S. and the counterpunch of a crackdown against illegal immigrants. And unlike immigration conferences larded with statistics on demographics, or loaded with how-to sessions by attorneys on clever legal maneuvers, this one brought home the human narrative of immigrants reviled and revered.
"I am only focused on migration," said Maria Dolores González, who two years ago was a Dallas homeowner and a border customs broker and now is a federal congresswoman in Mexico.
Her address spoke to the scope of Mexico's migration. With about 10 percent of the Mexican-born population now living in the U.S., Mexican immigrants have demanded and won representation in the lower house of the Mexican Congress. In fact, Ms. González is one of four federal representatives with a business card that reads "diputada federal migrante."
Ms. González was one of the final speakers Friday, at the closing of the 126-member advisory council to the Institute for Mexicans Abroad. Members of the group, which the Mexican government set up in 2003, said they would call for an end to deportations; and more fairs on labor and human rights, health and social services and education.
The institute's meeting in Dallas – only the second time the group has met outside Mexico – comes at a time when crackdowns against illegal immigrants in the U.S. have increased. States and cities across the country have approved an unprecedented number of ordinances and legislation targeting illegal immigrants in light of Congress' failure to pass a comprehensive measure.
Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation of American Immigration Reform, said that some measures of the advisory council are appropriate, such as creation of better jobs and Mexican shelters for those who are moving back to Mexico.
"Helping to bring people back to Mexican society is a legitimate function for the Mexican government," Mr. Mehlman said.
But the spokesman for the group that's pushed for years for more restrictive legal immigration and the elimination of illegal immigration took issue with the applause Mexico's President Felipe Calderón's visit generated among the immigrants.
"It shows his concern for the $23 billion that is sent back to Mexico each year," he said, referring to the flow of money known as remittances that immigrants send back to their homeland. "It is almost as though he has more concern for the Mexicans living abroad, than he does for those who live in Mexico."
And Mexican officials have taken notice. Ms. González, though, said it took her a full year of lobbying among federal deputies, the equivalent of a U.S. representative, to help push through a large increase in the budget of Mexico's 48 consulates in the U.S.
Ms. González said her discipline stems from the fact that she left her native state of Zacatecas as a 16-year-old to work in the U.S. She labored with her family in the berry fields of Washington state and lived in a storage shed. In 1986, when the U.S. Congress last overhauled immigration laws, she applied for amnesty, a legalization program that many now condemn and others want duplicated.
The central Mexican state of Zacatecas, once a power in mining, is mostly known for its migrants. Ms. González estimated that 55 percent of the state is now in the U.S.
"I ask the boys what they want to do when they get older and they say, 'I am waiting until I am 14 and I will leave for the United States,' " she said.
Conferees who were invited as observers or attended as members of the council opened their sessions at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel with an address by Mr. Calderón, who told them he was their ally.
But it was clear some conferees are frustrated with the Mexican government.
"The consulates can't act as they did five or 10 years ago," said Maria Elena Daniel, an Eagle Pass resident, when she stepped up to the podium in one of the final addresses. "The consulates need to improve their services." And deportations and departures of Mexican families must be met with financing of shelters on the Mexican side of the border, by Mexicans, she said.
The drama of recent immigration raids and dawn arrests at the homes of those in the country illegally hung over many sessions and hallway conversations this week. The crackdown on illegal immigrants is believed to be the harshest since the 1950s, say some historians.
The group named among its successes the implementation of the vote abroad for Mexican citizens who want to take part in Mexico's election; a scholarship program for Mexican immigrant students operated by the University of California; and funding for a binational health week of education and disease prevention.
dsolis(at)dallasnews.com |
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