Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs Announces Estamos Contigo
Estamos Contigo (“We are with you”) is the name of a new campaign launched by Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) to protect and provide resources to Mexicans living in the United States. On November 16, the SRE announced in a press release the eleven new measures that the ministry plans to implement immediately through its embassy and 50 consulates in the US. In a video addressed to Mexican nationals living in Mexico’s northern neighbor, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Claudia Ruiz Massieu stated, “The government of President Peña [Nieto] and all Mexicans are standing with you. We want to inform you about the possible immigration laws that, beginning in February, may affect you.”
The measures include the creation of a new toll-free hotline for Mexicans abroad to contact the Mexican government in the event that consular assistance or protection is needed and the extension of daily consulate business hours. The ministry is also launching a new mobile app called MiConsulmex, which provides information pertinent to migrants, such as contact information for consulates and other services. The SRE vows to heighten efficiency by increasing the presence of mobile consulates in areas that may be far away from consular offices. Finally, it has made a commitment to expedite the delivery of birth certificates to children born in the US to Mexican nationals.
According to U.S. News, remittances to Mexico totaled $25.8 billion last year, surpassing oil revenues for the country for the first time. According to the report made last February, the more than 11 million Mexicans living in the US are responsible for nearly all of Mexico’s remittances.
With existing economic and moral reasons to protect its citizens abroad, Mexico faces one other factor that motivated such a decisive stance in its foreign relations with the US: President-elect Trump’s planned immigration measures.
Uncertainty is looming among the Mexican population in the US and within the Mexican government now that Trump’s plans for mass deportations may actually become a reality. Mexico is attempting to prepare itself for the possible deportations of its citizens abroad. According to El Informador, Secretary Ruiz Massieu stated on November 18 that it is important to assure the “reintegration of Mexican nationals to work life, because when they return [to Mexico] they have different skills, such as language and the management of various machinery.”
Although the new measures have so far avoided much criticism, some Mexicans took to Twitter to voice their opposition. @Eduardo220173 tweeted on November 17 as a response to the SRE’s video: “@SRE_mx @PresidenciaMX Policies that us living in Mexico do not even have. Now quit, you bureaucratic imbeciles. You don’t care!”
Furthermore, immigration policies in Mexico have been heavily criticized in the past two years since the creation of the Plan Frontera Sur in 2014. The policy increased deportations from Mexico and led to accusations that Mexican immigration officials committed human rights violations.
There is also a possibility that the Estamos Contigo campaign is more of a symbolic and political move than anything else, especially given the fact that President Peña Nieto was criticized for inviting Donald Trump to meet with him in Mexico last August, during the campaign. Perhaps the SRE’s new measures are merely a way for President Peña Nieto’s administration to regain legitimacy after an embarrassing meeting with the now-leader of the US.
To Mexican and American human rights activists, the SRE’s new measures may seem hypocritical. However, Mexicans living in the US may breathe a small sigh of relief in response to the announcements, especially in the months preceding Trump’s inauguration. However, whether or not these measures are actually implemented effectively remains to be seen, and will depend on President-elect Trump’s policies regarding immigration in the US.
