The immigration policies of Mexico and the United States are separated by an enormous divide of nearly an inch.  Indeed, an immigration breakthrough is so attainable that failure may be almost certain.  Such ironies exist when simple problems with simple solutions are complicated by politics.

 

Our two neighboring capitalist economies combine perfectly in forming the foundation for all economic success:  Supply and demand.

 

America wants and needs labor (and intellectual capital), and Mexico helps provide it.

 

So what then, is the obstacle preventing implantation of a supply and demand-based immigration system?

 

Politics, essentially.

 

Some conservative Republicans are proving slow to recognize that the values, dreams and aspirations of American and Mexican Hispanics make them allies, not adversaries in building America’s future … willing good neighbors, not “invaders” to be distrusted or feared.  Some liberal Democrats speak as if borders and national sovereignty have no meaning at all. Each political party is driven to appeal to the historical stereotypes already established in the minds of their constituents, rather than demonstrate true leadership by fighting to change outdated or incorrect perceptions.  The problem is, politicians don’t win elections by picking fights with their most loyal voting blocks.  Such practices are equally true in Mexico, where elected officials gain political favor with their constituents by being seen standing up to “obstinate” American lawmakers.

 

However, in the end, I believe that the market forces of supply and demand will prevail and drive the formation of a work-based bi-national immigration agreement.

 

Meanwhile, there is much that can do to advance bi-national immigration reform, and to improve the quality of life for people on both ends of the supply and demand process. 

 

Three years ago, I began developing a declaration of “The Rights and Responsibilities of Sending and Receiving Nations.”  Developed in tandem with some of the world’s leading immigration experts and organizations, we presented  a core set of principles upon which we believe any fair immigration reform policies must be based.

 

>The demand for immigrant labor implies that receiving countries do have responsibility to ensure the rights of immigrants.

 

>Immigrant-sending countries must work to change social and economic conditions that caused emigration, and must strive to create opportunities for their citizens at home.

 

>Sending and receiving countries should establish working relations and the institutions needed to manage their mutual migrations issues.  This is not an imposition on sovereignty, but rather a responsible exercise of stewardship.

 

>Receiving countries should regularize the status of undocumented migrants, in order to build a society where identity fraud does not thrive, where border control is both economically and socially feasible, and where immigrants participate actively in the host society, rather than living in its shadows.

 

>Sending and receiving countries should work together to facilitate the efficient, secure, legal and inexpensive transfer of voluntary remittances and other forms of assistance, from migrants to their families and communities of origin.

 

>Sending countries that have a significant percentage of their populations living outside their national borders should include the concerns of emigrants and diasporas in their framework for creating and evaluating public policies.

 

>Sending and receiving countries share the responsibility for informing migrants of their rights.

 

>Sending and receiving countries should create mechanisms of democratic participation and representation for their immigrant, emigrant and diaspora populations.  (The percentage of Iraqi’s in America who recently participated in choosing Iraq’s interim government was truly extraordinary.  It is a clear testament to the passionate affection many migrants hold for the democratic process in their native countries.)

 

While universal acceptance of an “International Immigration Declaration” may take longer to achieve, the differences in immigration policy separating the United States and Mexico are a divide much easier to bridge.

 

The USA can begin by creating a new class of work visa to encourage the fluid migration of Mexican nationals to job opportunities here.  Mexico can collaborate with the USA to ensure that only those legally eligible to immigrate are doing so.

 

Both “good faith” first steps would require considerable political velocity in their respective nations to become law, but the benefits of success merit the risks by the legislatures of both nations.  All that’s needed for success is for elected officials to find new words to sell to their constituencies an old concept:  Fairness. Let’s make sure America’s next immigration policy is as good as the people it reflects.  Let’s prove the inch currently separating a good immigration agreement between two great nations and peoples isn’t too great a distance to travel to obtain justice.