Mexican Illegal Immigration Poll

[alfred russel]

I think it will go down, but by non-significant amounts. My rationale is that you can only do so much from the border policing standpoint, even if you try really hard. The Mexico-US border is just too large and porous.

Also, we have these things called planes, and sometimes they take off from places in Mexico and land in places in the US. Lots of people travel from Mexico to the US on these planes.

[Valmy]

Tell me more about these..."planes"...you called them?

[The Larch]

It also has to be taken into account that a maybe not insignificant amount of people that migrate into the US from Mexico are not actually Mexicans, but from other Central American countries.

[Ed Anger]

Kill them also.

[alfred russel]

Tell me more about these..."planes"...you called them?

I don't know much, but I think they appear from the sky and are full of horrible people. At least that was my experience when one came to my town. it was a black cylinder that had "TRUMP" written across it.

[Valmy]

Tell me more about these..."planes"...you called them?

I don't know much, but I think they appear from the sky and are full of horrible people. At least that was my experience when one came to my town. it was a black cylinder that had "TRUMP" written across it.

They sound like tools of the devil.

[celedhring]

I think it will go down, but by non-significant amounts. My rationale is that you can only do so much from the border policing standpoint, even if you try really hard. The Mexico-US border is just too large and porous.

Also, we have these things called planes, and sometimes they take off from places in Mexico and land in places in the US. Lots of people travel from Mexico to the US on these planes.

How hard is to get a valid tourist visa as a Mexican citizen?

I guess that if Mexican tourists going AWOL is a big issue (I don't know if it is), it will be hard to get them.

[KRonn]

I think it'll go down, but I think in addition to stronger border enforcement we'll do more for legal immigration to streamline the process. Hopefully fix the Visa process which is so broken. We have not idea how many are still out and don't track them when visa users leave the country. Also apparently there are huge numbers that are lost or stolen.

I think the ideas will revolve around some sensible immigration reform and policies that both dems and repubs will agree to. But I can't see it continuing to work as the mess it is now.

I doubt if NAFTA will be revoked but it'll probably get some strong revisions negotiated among the nations. Trade is huge between Texas and Mexico, which provides lots of jobs to Texas, so things need to be looked at properly and not just terminate NAFTA.

[dps]

I figure there will be no significant change.

[derspiess]

BTW Joan, you booted a perfect opportunity to use La Pasionaria's "No Paseran" from the Spanish Civil War.

It's "¡No pasarán!".

/Der Spieß

Siamo passati!

[OttoVonBismarck]

I think it will go down, but by non-significant amounts. My rationale is that you can only do so much from the border policing standpoint, even if you try really hard. The Mexico-US border is just too large and porous.

Also, we have these things called planes, and sometimes they take off from places in Mexico and land in places in the US. Lots of people travel from Mexico to the US on these planes.

How hard is to get a valid tourist visa as a Mexican citizen?

I guess that if Mexican tourists going AWOL is a big issue (I don't know if it is), it will be hard to get them.

Not all that hard, we have a program for Mexican nationals called a BCC (Border Crossing Card), the laminate BCC Mexicans can get (this is a special program for Mexico only) is an identity document and can also serve as a legal B2 visitor visa. With only your BCC, you can get into the U.S. at any border crossing with minimal fuss, and you can stay for 72 hours. So obviously if you were detained at one of the internal immigration checkpoints or etc and found to have overstayed the 72 hour window you'd be in trouble.

An additional restriction is when traveling on the BCC by itself, you're restricted to travel within legally defined "Border Zone", that varies in size from one border state to the next. It's 25 miles out from the border in California and Texas, and up to 75 in Arizona.

If you come into the country with a BCC and your Mexican passport, then it functions like a full tourist visa--with all the normal restrictions (but not the border zone restrictions--you can travel anywhere in the U.S.), but the tourist visa stay period is still in effect (so even though your BCC is good for 10 years, when using it as a tourist visa you're still restricted to a 180 day consecutive stay limit before you need to leave and re-enter.)

The process for getting a BCC is pretty easy, you go to a U.S. Embassy or Consulate and apply for one, I think it's like $150, and you have to be interviewed. All the interview is checking for is some proof you have ties to Mexico, having a job is a big one that will help, but basically unless you show up for the interview and say "yeah I'm a drifter with no job or family" you're likely to get approved.

I speculate the reason Mexican illegals pay so much for smugglers to sneak them in illegally instead of just abusing the BCC is for the same reason a lot of people who are poor don't register to vote or etc--just a poor sophistication at understanding government bureaucracy, so they pay smugglers vastly more money and risk detention and deportation when they could pretty easily game the system with a valid BCC.

[CountDeMoney]

If he wrecks the Mexican economy by abolishing NAFTA, you'll have millions trying to get into the USA.

Nobody is discussing the impact on Canada.  It won't be as messy, but they're going to go right down the shitter as well.  They'll just be able to hang on to the sides a little longer.

[OttoVonBismarck]

We entered a free trade area with Canada in the late 80s, I'm not sure if we actually backed out of NAFTA if it also cancels that earlier arrangement or not.

[The Minsky Moment]

Plus the Canucks are going to get Keystone XL back now. 

[Razgovory]

Up.  Trump's election has already been hell on the Mexican economy.  I predict it will harm it more.  Add to that a hiring freeze, I'd say illegal immigration will go up.