Florida’s SB 1718 law, effective July 1, requires employers to use E-Verify and penalize those who transport illegal aliens into Florida [Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Strongest Anti-Illegal Immigration Legislation in the Country to Combat Biden’s Border Crisis, FLgov.com, May 10, 2023]. Mexico is of course openly attacking the law, once again openly meddling in U.S. politics and public policy.
Mexican president calls Florida’s new anti-immigration bill 'immoral' https://t.co/wsQHPxsy5d
— POLITICO (@politico) May 8, 2023
Here is a rant delivered by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) at his July 3 presser:
We are against the immigration reform of [Ron] DeSantis, the governor of Florida, who is against the immigrants. Not one vote for DeSantis. He who does not love his fatherland does not love his mother. Not one vote for those who despise the migrants. We cannot remain silent.
If the United States is a great nation, it has been because of the migrants. And he is for the wall and for the mistreatment of migrants. He aspires to be a candidate for the presidency for the Republican Party. I hope that the citizens of the United States, of the Republican Party, know what is really happening, because the migrants are the ones who make it possible to do the jobs that are lacking in the United States, the infrastructure that they lack. It is the force of labor that makes the United States great and it’s only for politicking, electoral purposes … lying that the migrants are the ones who cause the misery in the United States. All that is false. They dare to make these reforms on the eve of elections.
[Versión estenográfica. Conferencia de prensa del presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador del 3 de julio de 2023 (“Stenographic Version. Press Conference of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador the 3rd of July, 2023”), Gob.mx, July 3, 2023]
Five observations:
AMLO also claimed, preposterously enough, that stories about drug smugglers were lies:
It is a great falsehood that has been spread … in the United States that the migrants bring drugs to the United States. That is completely false.
[The American media] take advantage of the lack of information of some sectors of the American people and of the great manipulation that there is also in the United States through the newspapers, including the most famous: the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and even more, the radio stations and television stations. It’s incredible how they manipulate.
If only—IF ONLY—the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal were immigration patriots!
Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena And Her Department … Lawfare Ahead
Mexico’s newly minted Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena, who replaced Marcelo Ebrard, a 2024 presidential candidate, reprised AMLO in her talk to 2,000 foreign ministry employees [La diplomacia tiene que estar al servicio de la gente: Alicia Bárcena (“Diplomacy must be at the service of the people”), Gob.mx, July 4, 2023].
Her goal for North America is “a greater emphasis in the attention to and assistance to the Mexican Diaspora in the United States and greater economic integration with the neighbors to the north.”
The day Florida’s new law took effect, the Mexican foreign ministry condemned it:
[T]he Government of Mexico, through its General Consulate in Miami and Consulate in Orlando, expresses its rejection against measures that involve acts of discrimination and racial profiling.
While the government of Mexico respects the processes and state legislative measures in the United States of America, it considers that SB1718 will affect the human rights of thousands of persons, Mexican girls and boys, exacerbating hostile environments that can result in acts or crimes of hate against the migrant community. This measure does not reflect their valuable contribution to the economy, society and culture of Florida, and the country.
Criminalization is not the way to resolve the phenomenon of undocumented immigration. The existence of transnational labor markets, and the intensity of commercial and touristic ties between Mexico and Florida cannot be ignored by measures inspired by emotions of xenophobia and white nationalism.
Policies of this nature also have a strong impact on the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States, as they indicate the reluctance of certain actors to identify joint solutions that invite collaboration. Both countries have worked to construct together paths of tolerance, security and respect, of which SB 1718 takes us away, provoking emotions of intimidation and fear in the migrant community.
[El Gobierno de México externa su rechazo y preocupación ante la ley antiinmigrante SB1718 en Florida (“The Government of Mexico Expresses Its Rejection of and Worry about the Anti-immigrant SB1718 Law in Florida”), Gob.mx, July 1, 2023]
Of course “migrants” have no reason to fear the law if they are in Florida legally. No matter, Mexico’s foreign ministry threatened to “utilize all the resources at its disposal to defend the rights and dignity of Mexicans in Florida.” And it will work with American organizations aka the Treason Lobby to undermine the new law:
With the support of organizations of the civil society active in the defense of human rights, Mexico will identify and register possible cases of violations of the rights of Mexican fellow citizens… [I]t will inform the migrant community and publicize the effects of the SB1718 law through community forums.
Principally through the 24 hour attention of the Centro de Información y Atención a Personas Mexicanas (Center of Information and Attention to Mexican Persons) (CIAM), the government of Mexico will provide personalized attention to affected persons (1-520 623 7874), and also through the Programa de Asistencia Jurídica a Personas Mexicanas a través de Asesorías Legales Externas en los Estados Unidos de América (Program of Legal Assistance to Mexican Persons through External Legal Advice in the United States of America) (PALE).
It will strengthen the training of consular personnel, emphasizing the reach of SB1718, the spread of messages and recommendations through the strategy “Know and Exercise your Rights“ that promotes the knowledge of the basic rights of our community, with the goal of providing accompaniment of the highest level to the legal actions undertaken by persons who are victims of acts of harassment, violence, abuse, any type of discrimination and racial profiling.
To summarize: the Mexican foreign ministry will subsidize and support lawfare against the duly constituted government of Florida.
Mexican Official: Florida Police Won’t Enforce The Law Anyway!
Vanessa Calva, the foreign ministry’s director general of Consular Protection and Strategic Planning, has been running thither and yon in Florida for some time. (See previous Said in Spanish.)
“I had the opportunity on two occasions, to be in Miami and Orlando, speaking with authorities, especially police departments and sheriffs,” she told Milenio. They assured us that they have no intention of detaining or consulting on the basis of a person’s migratory status.”
Sadly, she’s probably right about that, at least in Miami and Orlando.
▶️ En Florida está en proceso de aprobarse una ley antimigrante que afectaría también a miles de mexicanos
— Milenio (@Milenio) July 4, 2023
¿De qué se trata? Vanessa Calva (@vcalva), directora general de Protección Consular de la SRE, nos habla al respecto
📺 La historia con @AlexDominguezB #AlexEnMILENIO pic.twitter.com/8vjuwM9guR
Mexican Meddling Targets Kansas
As for Kansas, Mexico doesn’t like its law, also effective July 1, to stop human smuggling [The New Human Smuggling Law in Kansas—HB 2350—What is it, and What Does it Do?, by Matthew Hoppock, Hoppocklawfirm.com, May 26, 2023]:
[T]he government of Mexico through the Mexican Consulate in Kansas City expresses its rejection of and worry over this type of initiative that results in racial profiling which results in discriminatory acts and abuses against the Hispanic, Latino and Mexican community.
[El Gobierno de México rechaza la Ley HB2350 del estado de Kansas (“The Government of Mexico rejects the HB2350 Law of the State of Kansas”), Gob.mx, July 1, 2023]
The GOP-controlled state legislature overrode Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of the law, which the statement noted, showing just how closely the Mexicans follow American public policy debates about immigration.
If a GOP candidate beats Traitor Joe Biden in 2024, a top priority after ordering mass deportations, resuming border wall construction, and ending birthright citizenship, is serving notice on Mexico that the meddling ends—as of now.
