Mexican Ambassador Advocates for New Approach to Border Enforcement

The Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, told The Dallas Morning News that Mexico must focus more resources and efforts on border enforcement measures.

Regardless of what happens on this side of the border, Mexico has got to be able to do two things it has either been unable or unwilling to do in the past," he said. First, it must boost economic growth and job creation "to anchor those women and men with well-paying jobs in Mexico." Second, it must "ensure that every single Mexican that crosses the border into the United States does so with papers, through a designated port of entry, and legally.

According to Ambassador Sarukhan, border enforcement can already be executed under existing law:

Until now, Mexican authorities have not enforced laws requiring citizens to use only legal ports of entry and departure. The consequences of lax enforcement are increasingly evident. At $3,000 to $5,000 a person, smuggling rings reap big profits, and drug cartels have begun a violent campaign to seize control of the business. There has been an explosive increase in kidnapping and extortion targeting migrants at the border. When ransoms aren't paid, hostages are forced into the service of drug cartels. Criminality feeds on itself, and Mexico pays an ever-steeper social price

This new approach would help the American government move forward with comprehensive immigration reform. It would also immediately benefit Mexico by reducing violence and in the long term it would set the proper conditions for economic growth in Mexican border states. Moreover, credibility and trust could be slowly restored in a government trying to take on a stronger role in national security.

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