Posted on 03/11/2017 7:43:45 PM PST by doug from upland
A look at Mexico’s Immigration Laws - Who Knew? 1Aug 10, 2014 Source: humanevents.com What the west could learn from Mexico’s Immigration law:
Foreigners may be barred from the country if their presence upsets “the equilibrium of the national demographics,” when foreigners are deemed detrimental to “economic or national interests….”
This only applies one way ..naturally! From here to there ... but not from there to here.
Mexico has a radical idea for a rational immigration policy that most Americans would love. However, Mexican officials haven’t been sharing that idea with us as they press for our Congress to adopt the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill.
That’s too bad, because Mexico, which annually deports more illegal aliens than the United States does, has much to teach us about how it handles the immigration issue. Under Mexican law, it is a felony to be an illegal alien in Mexico.
At a time when the Supreme Court and many politicians seek to bring American law in line with foreign legal norms, it’s noteworthy that nobody has argued that the U.S. look at how Mexico deals with immigration and what it might teach us about how best to solve our illegal immigration problem. Mexico has a single, streamlined law that ensures that foreign visitors and immigrants are:
* in the country legally;
* have the means to sustain themselves economically;
* not destined to be burdens on society;
* of economic and social benefit to society;
* of good character and have no criminal records; and
* contributors to the general well-being of the nation.
The law also ensures that:
* immigration authorities have a record of each foreign visitor;
* foreign visitors do not violate their visa status;
* foreign visitors are banned from interfering in the country’s internal politics;
* foreign visitors who enter under false pretenses are imprisoned or deported;
* foreign visitors violating the terms of their entry are imprisoned or deported;
* those who aid in illegal immigration will be sent to prison.
Who could disagree with such a law? It makes perfect sense. The Mexican constitution strictly defines the rights of citizens — and the denial of many fundamental rights to non-citizens, illegal and illegal. Under the constitution, the Ley General de Población, or General Law on Population, spells out specifically the country’s immigration policy.
It is an interesting law — and one that should cause us all to ask, Why is our great southern neighbor pushing us to water down our own immigration laws and policies, when its own immigration restrictions are the toughest on the continent? If a felony is a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, then Mexican law makes it a felony to be an illegal alien in Mexico.
If the United States adopted such statutes, Mexico no doubt would denounce it as a manifestation of American racism and bigotry.
We looked at the immigration provisions of the Mexican constitution. [1] Now let’s look at Mexico’s main immigration law.
Mexico welcomes only foreigners who will be useful to Mexican society:
* Foreigners are admitted into Mexico “according to their possibilities of contributing to national progress.” (Article 32)
* Immigration officials must “ensure” that “immigrants will be useful elements for the country and that they have the necessary funds for their sustenance” and for their dependents. (Article 34)
* Foreigners may be barred from the country if their presence upsets “the equilibrium of the national demographics,” when foreigners are deemed detrimental to “economic or national interests,” when they do not behave like good citizens in their own country, when they have broken Mexican laws, and when “they are not found to be physically or mentally healthy.” (Article 37)
* The Secretary of Governance may “suspend or prohibit the admission of foreigners when he determines it to be in the national interest.” (Article 38)
Mexican authorities must keep track of every single person in the country:
* Federal, local and municipal police must cooperate with federal immigration authorities upon request, i.e., to assist in the arrests of illegal immigrants. (Article 73)
* A National Population Registry keeps track of “every single individual who comprises the population of the country,” and verifies each individual’s identity. (Articles 85 and 86)
* A national Catalog of Foreigners tracks foreign tourists and immigrants (Article 87), and assigns each individual with a unique tracking number (Article 91).
* Foreigners with fake papers, or who enter the country under false pretenses, may be imprisoned:
* Foreigners with fake immigration papers may be fined or imprisoned. (Article 116)
* Foreigners who sign government documents “with a signature that is false or different from that which he normally uses” are subject to fine and imprisonment. (Article 116)
Foreigners who fail to obey the rules will be fined, deported, and/or imprisoned as felons:
* Foreigners who fail to obey a deportation order are to be punished. (Article 117)
* Foreigners who are deported from Mexico and attempt to re-enter the country without authorization can be imprisoned for up to 10 years. (Article 118)
* Foreigners who violate the terms of their visa may be sentenced to up to six years in prison (Articles 119, 120 and 121). Foreigners who misrepresent the terms of their visa while in Mexico — such as working with out a permit — can also be imprisoned.
Under Mexican law, illegal immigration is a felony. The General Law on Population says,
* “A penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of three hundred to five thousand pesos will be imposed on the foreigner who enters the country illegally.” (Article 123)
* Foreigners with legal immigration problems may be deported from Mexico instead of being imprisoned. (Article 125)
* Foreigners who “attempt against national sovereignty or security” will be deported. (Article 126)
Mexicans who help illegal aliens enter the country are themselves considered criminals under the law:
* A Mexican who marries a foreigner with the sole objective of helping the foreigner live in the country is subject to up to five years in prison. (Article 127)
* Shipping and airline companies that bring undocumented foreigners into Mexico will be fined. (Article 132)
All of the above runs contrary to what Mexican leaders are demanding of the United States. The stark contrast between Mexico’s immigration practices versus its American immigration preachings is telling. It gives a clear picture of the Mexican government’s agenda: to have a one-way immigration relationship with the United States.
Let’s call Mexico’s bluff on its unwarranted interference in U.S. immigration policy. Let’s propose, just to make a point, that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) member nations standardize their immigration laws by using Mexico’s own law as a model.
This only applies one way ..naturally! From here to there ... but not from there to here. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Unusual.
Usually there is reciprocity between friendly nations on immigration policy. Reciprocity is a basic principle of Interantional Law.
But not in this case.Mexico does not want to welcome immigrants from the USA.
We need to reciprocate.
But how well does Mexico enforce their tough immigration laws? Given the numbers of illegal aliens from south of Mexico who make it to the U.S. by traveling through Mexico, the answer would seem to be “not very well”.
——Who could disagree with such a law? ——
Why lawyers of course.
“That’s what we do, we twist the law beyond all recognition” Ally McBeal 1992
As an abashed ALT-RIGHT Pepe loving Bible thumping bitter gun clinging flag waving vehement nationalist Luddite FReeptard breeder hooligan, I believe some Mexican cultural appropriation regarding immigration policies is in order.
¿Estaría usted en desacuerdo?
> "...the Ley General de Población, or General Law on Population, spells out specifically the country’s immigration policy."
I don't doubt that Mexico still applies laws to illegal immigrants that it doesn't want applied to its own citizens who enter the U.S. illegally (laws that I agree with others in this thread in supporting for this country too). The problem with that very specific article that cites numbered provisions of Mexico's General Law on Population, though, is that it was written in 2014. It's outdated. Based on a revision of that law in 2015, all those embarrassing provisions appear to have been repealed. Just skimming through it, I don't see much left of the law but bland, political correct statements.
I can read Spanish, but for those who can't, the key expresion you need to understand is "se deroga" ("it's repealed"). [Dictionary] Here's a link to the government site for the LEY GENERAL DE POBLACIÓN (Última reforma publicada DOF 01-12-2015) . You can look up the numbered provisions mentioned in the humanevents.com article, and see what you find. It will probably be "se deroga".
I suspect that Mexico is now using less conspicuous ways to deal with illegal immigrants who attempt to stay in the country. In any case according to this 2015 revision it has covered itself from embarrassing reproaches about the wording of the 1974 law. Its conduct may still be hypocritical, but it will be harder to prove.
I didn’t have room in the forum “To” field to address the previous post to everyone who had responded in this thread (to an article based on outdated information), so I’ve added your names to this one. That post is intended for you too, though.
“bland, political correct statements” — “bland, politically correct statements”
Alas, they’ve covered themselves somewhat by revising the 1974 law — see my post number 25. Yes, we have a right to protect our national cultural identity, just as they do, but proving their hypocrisy about this subject will now be harder to do.
Mexico only wants to keep Mexico...Mexican, while simultaneously making United States Mexican.
What interests me are the number of repeals (starting at page 11). Articles 116 through 157.
What was repealed?
We still need the old version to determine this.
> “I wish I knew the Spanish language, if for no other reason than to know what people are saying behind my back.”
:-)
I haven’t used the language much in decades, and no longer claim to be fluent, but I have an M.A. in it, and besides studying in this country, also took courses at universities in Mexico and Spain. So even out of practice, I can still speak, write, and understand it. (After a few years teaching Spanish, I switched to electronics and computers, and then became a technical writer.)
With a background in English, and having studied some French, you could probably learn to read Spanish in a fairly short time (though English is a Germanic language, it borrowed many words from French and Latin — the source of Spanish — so in many instances words in those languages resemble each other). Learning to speak and understand spoken Spanish, though, is a much more difficult task.
You probably know that with respect to French already. I can read French with ease, but have difficulty understanding the spoken language (and can hardly speak it at all).
Good idea. The net automatic translators are far from perfect, but they usually suffice to understand the gist of what's being said. For instance, that one translates "se deroga" as "Repeals" when it's really being used reflexively, and more or less amounts to "It's repealed" -- literally "se" (itself), "deroga" (repeals), that is, it has been repealed.
Here's a link to the original law, but it's in graphic form, so I don't think the automatic net translators will translate it. Apparently the numbers of the provisions (articles) remain the same in the revised version. I believe that's the usual practice with laws that are revised in most countries.
For instance, the commentary being quoted by Doug from Upland in post 1 refers to Article 38 -- "The Secretary of Governance may 'suspend or prohibit the admission of foreigners when he determines it to be in the national interest.' (Article 38)."
When I look up Article 38 in the original, I see, "Es facultad de la Secretaría de Gobernación, suspender o prohibir la admisión de extranjeros, cuando así lo determine el interés nacional." Even without knowing Spanish, you can probably tell from the similarity of some of the words that it's speaking of the same thing.
In the 2015 revised version of that article, there's just "Artículo 38.-(Se deroga)". They've repealed (eliminated) it. I suspect that some of these powers still exist, but they are no longer conspicuously on display in that prominent law.
Here's a page that contains links to the original law and many revisions, including the current one (Texto Vigente) that repeals so many of the provisions.
Well, anyone who knows much about Mexico and traveling, visiting or settling down there knew.
As a matter of fact I’ve been suggesting that my Congress critter copy the exact details of the Mexican law(s) and introduce them in Congress as a reform of our immigration laws.
Let’s here Jorge Ramos defend them.
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