excerpt:
..a recently leaked State Department cable indicates that both sides understand the stakes. At a September 2009 meeting in Mexico City, that country's undersecretary for governance, Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández, warned a US delegation that Mexico was in danger of "losing" entire regions like Juárez to the cartels.
In 2009, more than 94,000 Mexicans came to Juárez to apply for permanent resident status. Many, like Monica's husband Alvaro, were undocumented and living gainfully in the United States. In past decades, applying would have been no big deal for such people. Thanks partly toMonica Bosquez and her husband AlvaroMonica Bosquez and her husband Alvaro a 1965 Great Society law that emphasized the need to keep families intact, applicants already living in the United States could petition for a change of status without having to leave.
But over the years, foes of illegal immigration have chipped away at the policies to the point where keeping families together is no longer a key consideration. Since 2001, undocumented foreigners living here for a year or more have been instructed to return to their native countries, where they must then wait a decade before becoming eligible to apply for a change in status. (Applicants may request a waiver of the 10-year waiting period, but may do so only after leaving the country.)
Immigrant visas were once processed at all nine US consulates in Mexico, but in 1988, the task was consolidated to two consulates, in Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana. In 1992, the Tijuana unit was closed. One State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me that the consolidation was a purely administrative move, and applies to "all countries where we have more than one consulate, except where there are regional language differences."
On immigration-related websites like the Juarez, Mexico Discussion Forum and Immigrate2US, members often speculate as to why, of all of the cities in Mexico, they are forced to go to the Murder Capital. Some see it as a deliberate move to discourage people from applying. "This process is built to break one down," wrote a member of the Juárez forum. "And most importantly, to instill fear."
State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson dismisses this claim. "The decision was made years ago," she told me, "before the increased drug-related violence along the border area." But the decision still stands now that the city is a war zone. A different spokeswoman, for the Juárez consulate, insisted that the golden zone is "relatively safe." Besides, she explained, "Visa applicants are not the targets. The war is between the cartels and gangs."
When I run that notion by Martín Orquiz, a reporter for the Juárez newspaper El Diario, he replies that it's generally true, but that many of the victims have been bystanders. "They were killed," he said, "because they passed by where a shooting occurred." He confirms that the area around the consulate is "relatively safe."
To reach that safe zone, though, applicants must pass through sections of town that regularly see mass killings, through armed security checkpoints, and near the site of a car-bomb explosion that killed three people in July. "The quality of the neighborhood around the compound doesn't much change the whole business of getting into and out of the city," one visa applicant told me. "The scariest part of our trip was the ride from the airport to the consulate, then back again." Especially, he explained, when his bus was suddenly behind a military truck filled with armed soldiers wearing black balaclavas.
The consulate's website is vague on the safety issue. Under "Frequently Asked Questions," it asks: "Is it safe for my family and I to travel to Ciudad Juárez given the recent reports of violence?"
The answer: "All immigrant visa cases in Mexico are currently processed at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez. Therefore all applicants must present themselves at the Consulate at the time and date of their appointment if they wish to proceed with their cases. It is incumbent upon you to take the necessary precautions when traveling to your visa appointment."
Read the entire piece at Mother Jones
..a recently leaked State Department cable indicates that both sides understand the stakes. At a September 2009 meeting in Mexico City, that country's undersecretary for governance, Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández, warned a US delegation that Mexico was in danger of "losing" entire regions like Juárez to the cartels.
In 2009, more than 94,000 Mexicans came to Juárez to apply for permanent resident status. Many, like Monica's husband Alvaro, were undocumented and living gainfully in the United States. In past decades, applying would have been no big deal for such people. Thanks partly toMonica Bosquez and her husband AlvaroMonica Bosquez and her husband Alvaro a 1965 Great Society law that emphasized the need to keep families intact, applicants already living in the United States could petition for a change of status without having to leave.
But over the years, foes of illegal immigration have chipped away at the policies to the point where keeping families together is no longer a key consideration. Since 2001, undocumented foreigners living here for a year or more have been instructed to return to their native countries, where they must then wait a decade before becoming eligible to apply for a change in status. (Applicants may request a waiver of the 10-year waiting period, but may do so only after leaving the country.)
Immigrant visas were once processed at all nine US consulates in Mexico, but in 1988, the task was consolidated to two consulates, in Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana. In 1992, the Tijuana unit was closed. One State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me that the consolidation was a purely administrative move, and applies to "all countries where we have more than one consulate, except where there are regional language differences."
On immigration-related websites like the Juarez, Mexico Discussion Forum and Immigrate2US, members often speculate as to why, of all of the cities in Mexico, they are forced to go to the Murder Capital. Some see it as a deliberate move to discourage people from applying. "This process is built to break one down," wrote a member of the Juárez forum. "And most importantly, to instill fear."
State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson dismisses this claim. "The decision was made years ago," she told me, "before the increased drug-related violence along the border area." But the decision still stands now that the city is a war zone. A different spokeswoman, for the Juárez consulate, insisted that the golden zone is "relatively safe." Besides, she explained, "Visa applicants are not the targets. The war is between the cartels and gangs."
When I run that notion by Martín Orquiz, a reporter for the Juárez newspaper El Diario, he replies that it's generally true, but that many of the victims have been bystanders. "They were killed," he said, "because they passed by where a shooting occurred." He confirms that the area around the consulate is "relatively safe."
To reach that safe zone, though, applicants must pass through sections of town that regularly see mass killings, through armed security checkpoints, and near the site of a car-bomb explosion that killed three people in July. "The quality of the neighborhood around the compound doesn't much change the whole business of getting into and out of the city," one visa applicant told me. "The scariest part of our trip was the ride from the airport to the consulate, then back again." Especially, he explained, when his bus was suddenly behind a military truck filled with armed soldiers wearing black balaclavas.
The consulate's website is vague on the safety issue. Under "Frequently Asked Questions," it asks: "Is it safe for my family and I to travel to Ciudad Juárez given the recent reports of violence?"
The answer: "All immigrant visa cases in Mexico are currently processed at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez. Therefore all applicants must present themselves at the Consulate at the time and date of their appointment if they wish to proceed with their cases. It is incumbent upon you to take the necessary precautions when traveling to your visa appointment."
Read the entire piece at Mother Jones
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