Last week, Donald Trump abruptly announced that all 265 000 Salvadoran refugees who were admitted to the United States in 2001 with a Temporary Protection Status after a devastating succession of environmental disasters in their country, must leave before September 2019 or be forcibly deported. Since most of them have children who were born in the U.S. and have therefore U.S. citizenship, or brought small children with them (Dreamers), they would suffer a tragic separation of families of hitherto unprecedented dimensions. The backlash from the Democrat Party was immediate: a no vote for the next federal budget – which would bankrupt the United States Government since its money will run out on January 19th 2018 - coupled with a no vote on the 18 billion Dollar financing of Donald Trump’s border wall!
Now, in a panic, seeking a bipartisan compromise Trump suggested last Tuesday that an immigration deal could be reached in two phases: First, by addressing young immigrants and border security with what he calls a “Bill of Love”, and thereafter by making comprehensive immigration law changes that have long eluded Congress. As can be recalled, Trump last year ended the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) which had protected more than 800 000 youngsters from deportation. He gave Congress until March 15th 2018 to adjust their status. In order to sign legislation to that effect he continues to insist on getting Congress to provide the financing of his wall while promising again to get Mexico to reimburse that expenditure in full “in some manner – we’ll see”. Faced with an imminent government shutdown this week and still wanting to help the more than 800 000 “Dreamers” the Democrats, under the leadership of Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, now seem to be willing to discuss at least some version of a wall that doesn’t look like a wall – as the Senator puts it.
All of that, of course, now presents a dilemma for us: do we want to countenance the building of the wall – in some form – in order to protect our 800 000 Dreamers (30 000 of them are from Puebla)? Apparently the result of any decision derived from this conflict affects the situation nationally but also at the state level so our State must be prepared for any eventuality. We have been pointing out in previous bulletins that the intellectual capital that these immigrants represent should be used as a means of transferring competencies to promote the development of different regions of Mexico and Puebla in particular.
By: Dr. Juan Carlos Botello and Dr. Werner G.C. Voigt ( independent external contributor).
