Hypocrite? Mexican President-Elect to Create Border Police Force

Mexico border police
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - JULY 09: Newly elected President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a press conference after a meeting between newly elected President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and President of the CONCAMIN Francisco Cervantes Diaz at Hyatt Regency Polanco hotel on July 9, 2018 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Carlos Tischler/Getty Images)

Mexico’s newly elected President-to-be Andrés Manuel López Obrador routinely railed against Donald Trump’s strong border policy while on the campaign trail, calling illegal immigration to the U.S. a “human right,” and encouraged more to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

“And soon, very soon — after the victory of our movement — we will defend all the migrants in the American continent and all the migrants in the world,” Obrador said, adding that immigrants “must leave their towns and find a life in the United States.” He then said that immigration is “a human right we will defend.” (RELATED: Top Mexican Presidential Candidate Calls for Mass Migration to the U.S.).

As the United States ramps up enforcement against illegal immigration, Mexico has been doing much of the same. Since implementing their Southern Border Plan in 2014, Mexico has deported more than 500,000 illegal immigrants from Central America, more than the U.S. has sent back over the same time period. (RELATED: Mexico Has More Than Doubled Deportations Of Central Americans So Far This Year).

Will that fight against illegal immigration at Mexico’s southern border be suspended by Obrador once he becomes President? Given his pro-open borders stance with the United States, will his attitude be the same with Mexico’s neighbors to the South?

Of course not. Just like most American politicians, President-elect Obrador is a complete hypocrite. Not only will Mexico continue enforcing their immigration laws while criticizing ours, they’re going to be putting that enforcement on steroids. The media criticizes the U.S. for protecting our borders, but not Mexico, so it’s unsurprising that plans to beef up their equivalent of Border Patrol are reported on uncritically from the media.

According to Bloomberg; “Obrador is planning his own border police force to stop undocumented immigrants, drugs and guns from crossing into the country from Central America, his future chief of public security said. Picked by Lopez Obrador, Alfonso Durazo stressed that the new force would be part of a larger regional development effort to ease the poverty and violence that lead so many Central Americans to cross into Mexico.” Stopping illegal immigration to prevent the flow of drugs and crime from entering a country? Where have we heard that before?

While hypocritical given Obrador’s stance on illegal immigration into the U.S., it’s completely rational from his perspective. He recognizes that illegal immigration from Mexico to the U.S. benefits Mexico at our expense, and he realizes that illegal immigration from Central American into Mexico helps Central America at Mexico’s expense. Perhaps Trump and Obrador will come to a compromise – and build a border wall on both of Mexico’s borders.

By Matt

Matt is the co-founder of Unbiased America and a freelance writer specializing in economics and politics. He’s been published... More about Matt

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