Remain in Mexico: Not just a partisan battle
According to data that was disclosed in a recent court filing related to a lawsuit against the Biden administration, U.S. Border Patrol agents made approximately 1.9 million arrests in 2021, a record high reflecting an increase in attempted crossings across the Mexican border.
The suit filed by the Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Texas seeks to block the federal government from stopping the Remain in Mexico policy (See my blog from December 6, 2021). This policy requires migrants to wait south of the boarder while their asylum claims are being considered. Unfortunately, a federal judge ordered the Biden administration to restart the Remain in Mexico Policy while the case makes it’s way through the court system.
About 20% of the migrants arrested for entering the country illegally last year were released into the U.S. to await hearings on their asylum applications, down from about 56% during a prior surge of illegal border crossings just before the pandemic began, the data show.
The issue is has become polarizing and bi-partisan. The release of migrants who illegally crossed into the U.S. to await asylum hearings has been widely criticized by Republicans who call it “catch and release program.”
On the other hand, Democrats and migrant advocates, have criticized the widespread ejection of asylum applicants to Mexico because it poses serious threats to the migrants’ health and safety as they await their hearing.
When formulating an opinion on immigration policy, it is important to understand the effects on various economic sectors in the United States. Republicans fear immigrants will “take” job opportunities from US citizens, however, studies have shown that this is actually not the case. In fact, the effects of stricter boarder and domestic enforcement exacerbate labor-shortage problems and leads to a reduction of US agricultural production. Studies also conclude that streamlining guest-worker programs provides, such as H2A, provides a steady supply of farm workers and has negligible impact on the US wage.
Another important consideration is that of human rights. According to a study done last year in 2021, Latino migrants represent a large proportion of US Farmworkers. Approximately 70% of farmworkers in the United States are Latino migrants, and about 50% of hired farmworkers do not have authorization to work in the United States. (2). Farmworkers face numerous environmental hazards such as chemical factors from pesticides and air pollutants, physical factors from operating machines and exposure to extreme heat, and biological threats to their health such as viruses, and bacterial infection.
The adverse effects of these hazards are amplified among Latino migrant farmworkers, who are concurrently exposed to various psychosocial stressors (3). Factors such as documentation status, potential lack of authorization to work in the United States, and language and cultural barriers may also prevent Latino migrants from accessing federal aid, legal assistance, and health programs. These environmental, occupational, and social hazards may further exacerbate existing health disparities among US Latinos. This population is disproportionately vulnerable becuase of their limited knowledge of worker’s rights, and inadequate training.
Remain in Mexico policy makers needs to take the consequences onlined above into consideration. The economic need for migrant farm workers is significant and policy must be considered that provides protection of immigrants’ basic right to necessities such as healthcare, safe housing, water and food, along with on the job training, safety protection. Farmworkers are essential to agriculture in the United States, and actions are needed to protect this vulnerable population.
1. US immigration policies and dynamics of cross-border workforce in agriculture. Stephen Devadoss and Jeff Luckstead. First published July 8, 2018
2. Environmental health threats to Latino Migrant Farm workers. Federico Castillo, Ana M. Mora, Georgia L. Kayser, Jennifer Vanos,Carly Hyland,Audrey R. Yang,4 and Brenda Eskenazi.. First published January 4, 2021
3. Advancing the Health of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers in the United States: Identifying Gaps in the Existing Literature. Jamie Bloss, Catherine LePrevost, Abdul Zahra. September 22, 2021