A Day Without a Mexican?

With the failure of the Immigration Reform Bill there has been a refocusing on the issues regarding the current state of affairs surrounding illegal immigration. This year there has already been 275 bodies found between US-Mexico border and it is expected that that number is going to rise to a record of over 500 bodies in 2007. Much of the criticism coming from some border experts is that increased border security creates a situation where migrants seek more dangerous and unfriendly means to make it across the border, and since 1994 when border security was tightened nearly 4,500 Mexicans and Central Americans have perished trying to make it to the US.

While there is much debate on why it has become more dangerous to cross the border, it is believed that while in the past many met their fate due to traffic accidents, the main culprit in recent history is hypothermia from cold desert temperatures and many being drenched while crossing the Rio Grande river between Mexico and the US and not being able to warm themselves to save their lives. Another risk mentioned are the cases of some smugglers, commonly called "coyotes" abandoning their migrants or physically assaulting them. While much of the statistics show the evident rise in risks in crossing the border and the links with border security, much of the information details only the situation US side of the border. Despite all these statistics, or lack thereof, much of these issues are common knowledge on both sides of the border.

The question that needs to be asked in my opinion is whether these migrants from Mexico and Central America and the US and its economy and people are two independent issues, or whether in that part of the Americas those two groups are completely interdependent on each other. One can only give their best observation, but I believe there is a solid point to be made in the film A Day Without a Mexican-2004 where California is ground to a halt when on May 14th every Mexican worker disappears from the streets of California and its citizens attempt to manage their lives without the thousands of illegal immigrants who do much of the labour in today's America.

Despite the humoristic observations of the filmmakers, in reality the situation on the border is one of perpetual crisis. With an economy so dependent on its inexpensive labour and so resistant to accept the workers who do those tasks, it seems the solution to many of these issues are non-existent except to make a movie about something no one can agree on yet everyone knows they could not live without.