U.S.-Mexico border community activist and educator Macrina Cárdenas de Alarcón visited the BorderWork(s) Lab on Sept. 27. Her talk was part of a speaking tour organized by the Mexico Solidarity Network, a Chicago-based NGO.
Cárdenas de Alarcón works along the border aiding Mexican deportees and organizing with La Casa del Migrante, which provides shelter for deportees in Tijuana. Her talk with the BorderWork(s) Lab and guests from Romance Studies focused on the ways in which flows of capital have fueled political decisions about the U.S.-Mexico border.
Cárdenas de Alarcón spoke about how the building of a wall along the border has not stopped people from trying to migrate into the United States, but it has increased levels of violence and the number of fatalities that result from that crossing.
In addition to NAFTA’s effect on the U.S.-Mexico border in the 1990s and beyond, Cárdenas de Alarcón spoke about the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), which was a 2005-09 regional dialogue among President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on security and economic issues.
She also highlighted how Mexico now acts as a gatekeeper for Central American migrants attempting to travel into the United States, and how this new configuration of border politics complicates Mexico’s relationships with its neighbors to both north and south.
Participants in the discussion raised a number of issues related to their interests and how they interact with the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Here are some links to further reading on those issues (links do not imply agreement with particular viewpoints):
- The U.S.-Mexico border as area of outstanding natural protection
- Effects that U.S.-Mexico border policies have on families
- Texas-Mexico Border Wall
Feel free to add your own links in the comments section of this post.
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