Mexico to offer temporary work visas to Central American migrants. This is my opinion on this news article in a Mexico publication (English newspaper).
You can read the original article in English at https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/mexico-work-visas-central-american-migrants/
Mexico will launch a program this week offering Central American migrants temporary visas to work on public infrastructure projects, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Monday.
Ironworkers, tilers, engineers and tradesmen are needed in the construction of his government’s flagship projects, the president said at his weekly news conference. “We need a workforce for these projects, especially … skilled labor.”
So now Mexico is going to use these “passing immigrants” to undermine Mexican workers. I am sure the normal Mexican worker will be furious at this. There can be no other reaction from the common people that I can see. Since the typical Mexican worker gets paid very poorly, these will work for even less, and drive down the Mexican wages.
President Lopez Obrador said,
“Their goal is to get to the United States, not to stay in Mexico,” he said.
So these are just stopping over temporarily because the real money they are going to make is the United States give Away programs that Biden is offering. I imagine many will want to go to someplace like New York and stay in a hotel for free for months and months, until they just get bored with it.
From my contacts, it would appear that many of these “economic migrants” have money, using credit cards, debit cards and cash for restaurants to bring food to them in the border migrant camps. So having an “economic need” which is not a reason for being given entry into the US is also a farce.
Obrador also said,
To attract migrant workers, López Obrador explained that his government will launch a campaign in Central America to spread the word that salaries in Mexico are increasing.
Too bad that the typical Mexican worker is not enjoying these raises. Not from what I am seeing here.
During his Monday morning conference, he revealed that the United States president Joe Biden had sent a letter to his government that committed to increase its investment in Central America and the Caribbean. López Obrador has long pushed for investment in the region to create employment opportunities and stem migration.
While Biden didn’t share details of the investment, he promised to personally verify López Obrador’s visa project alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.
Every year, thousands of people flee poverty and violence in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua to head to the U.S. through Mexico.
According to the United States’ Migration Policy Institute, between October 2019 and March 2023, nationals of these four countries accounted for almost one-third of all 5.8 million migrant encounters at the Mexican-U.S. border.
Mexico to offer temporary work visas to Central American migrants