In the shadow of the U.S. presidential elections, Mexico's president Enrique Peña Nieto returns to the White House this Friday to talk trade, immigration, and security with President Obama. The two met in Canada less than a month ago, but there is indeed much unfinished business.
First, Mexico must act now to implement promised labor law reforms that would strengthen the labor justice system and end the practice of employer-controlled "protection contracts." Currently, American companies such as Ford and Goodyear continue to create and sign labor contracts before they have even hired and negotiated with workers. Such "protection contracts" unfairly depress wages and create incentives for companies like Carrier and Nabisco to close plants and move jobs to Mexico. Responsible companies should know better.
While the reforms require legislative change and depend on political processes, both Mexico's executive branch and U.S. companies can act immediately to stop the proliferation of protection contracts. Neither have.
Second, Mexico must address violence perpetrated by its security forces, recently accused of killing eight protesters who were supporting striking teachers. As American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten recently wrote to Secretary of State Kerry, "Mexico's democracy is threatened when police resort to deadly force rather than government engaging with all relevant stakeholders in meaningful and constructive social dialogue."
The shocking toll of deaths and disappearances at the hands of security forces is gruesomely documented in a recent report from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, which found that reforms on paper have not reduced ongoing violence and impunity. The U.N. report reinforces the conclusions of an extensive report by the Open Society Justice Initiative, released on June 7, which finds that the Mexican government and organized crime groups have committed "crimes against humanity," including murder, torture, and enforced disappearances that have been widespread, systematic, and part of a policy to attack civilian populations.
Third, President Obama should not expect Mexico to be America's armed enforcer, increasing forced deportations of Central American refugees. Both countries should respect the human rights of refugees within their borders. As an example, President Obama should immediately halt the deportation of families and children who have come to the U.S. fleeing gang violence in Central America and move to close the family detention centers as the courts have ordered.
As the New York Times editorialized on July 18, "If the Obama administration took its principles to heart, it would be closing its family prisons and abandoning its emphasis on border crackdowns in favor of greater efforts to connect Central Americans with pro bono lawyers and to provide family- and community-based alternatives to detention." Poverty and violence south of the border must be addressed by a policy of equitable economic development and strengthening the justice system, not by jailing children or building mythical walls.
Mexico is a close neighbor and key partner. The United States has an interest in improving lives south of the border. We cannot expect a trade agreement to solve these problems with labor rights, poverty and violence. In the twenty years since NAFTA, they have gotten worse. Rather than insisting that TPP is now the solution, President Obama should make clear that Mexico must act on these issues so that not only companies but citizens can freely choose between staying home and migrating.