Immigration reform: A burning issue on both sides of the border.
U.S. Immigration
Reforms Demand Mexican 'Firmness' (La Jornada,
Mexico)
"For Mexico,
Obama's second term represents an opportunity to restore the imperative of
immigration reform to the place it should never have lost. ... Of course, this
depends not only on the correlation of political forces North of the Rio Bravo,
but on the capacity of our national authorities to handle bi-national relations
with an attitude of respect, and at the same time with sovereign firmness,
leaving behind the shameful submission toward Washington that characterized the
previous administration."
In an anachronistic private ceremony, president of the United
States Barack Obama has begun the second term he won in the November election, to
remain at the head of the country for the next four years. In
contrast to January 20, 2009, when the first African-American was installed in
the White House, on this occasion there is no exuberant optimism in the neighboring country, and
the sensation of participation in a historic moment has been left behind.
The electoral triumph of the former Senator for Illinois over
his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, is not a result of his society's bet on the
future, as happened in 2008, but a victory of common sense. While the defeated
presidential candidate was unable to express sensible and viable solutions to
the urgent problems facing the most powerful country in the world, his
Democratic opponent proved in his first term to be an efficient manager,
even if his leadership brought better results for the corporate and
geopolitical interests of the superpower than for the unresolved needs of
the U.S. population.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
Today it is clear that Obama's disposition is to adjust his
proposals for socialtransformation to
the narrow margins of power available to him. Hence, it is reasonable to assume
that externally over the next four years, Washington will continue to operate as
a violent and predatory power. Domestically, it is at least probable that the
Democratic president will continue to allow corporate and financial interests
to dominate social ones, limiting his gestures toward satisfying the latter
only so as to avoid their reaching the breaking point, which has already been foreshadowed
by outbursts of discontent on the part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. A clear
example of the merely cosmetic social engagement of the Obama Administration is
his way of facing society's problem of guns, which has so tragically been pushed
into the public debate by the recent massacre at a Connecticut school. Instead
of pointing toward the central root of the problem, which is the enormous share
of the economy made up by the weapons industry, Obama limited himself to
proposing legal patches to slow the acquisition and possession of assault rifles
by individuals.
One of the few areas in which the new administration beginning
today should propose real reforms is immigration policy. This has nothing to
do with Obama's convictions or promises, but his burgeoning political obligation
toward Americans of Latino origin, who now constitutes a sixth of the population,
and to whom in great measure he owes his reelection, considering that three
quarters of the sector voted for him last November.
For Mexico, Obama's second term represents an opportunity to
restore the imperative of immigration reform to the place it should never have
lost: as a principal point of the bilateral agenda, coming before even security
or trade negotiations. Of course, this depends not only on the correlation
of political forces North of the Rio Bravo, but on the capacity of our national
authorities to handle bi-national relations with an attitude of respect, and at
the same time with sovereign firmness, leaving behind the shameful submission
toward Washington that characterized the previous administration.
