A note on liberty and empathy — from Mexico’s president
As an American, I think it’s always nice when the president offers an eloquent defense of our nation’s values.
Granted, it’s a bit strange when the president who does so is president of Mexico. But I was nonetheless moved by the letter Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent to President Donald Trump on Thursday after our head of state attempted to strong-arm him into cracking down on illegal immigration.
“On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5 percent tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP,” Trump tweeted.
“The Tariff will gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied,” he added.
It was unwise to issue this particular threat on Twitter. Trump, as the president of the United States, has more power than most of the people he picks fights with. But Obrador, who was elected in 2018, is in a relatively strong negotiating position — a stronger one than most Americans realize, perhaps. And Mexico is culturally similar to Texas, in certain ways, so I wouldn’t necessarily expect its president to respond to a provocation like this one as politely as the prime minister of Canada might.
In any case, Obrador responded to Trump’s threat by declining to cooperate with him. In an aggressively courteous two-page letter, he explained in Spanish that Trump’s plan is both ridiculous and at odds with the values of the United States.
“La Estatua de la Libertad no es un símbolo vacío,” Obrador wrote.
Some Americans would object to his implication — and it’s possible, of course, to have concerns about illegal immigration, even if you support the legal
variety. In my view, though, the outright nativists who’ve been emboldened by Trump’s ascent are a greater threat our nation and its culture than the migrants at our southern border.
The migrants, most of whom are from Central America, are entering the country illegally because there’s no other way for them to enter the country. That’s suboptimal, perhaps, but it doesn’t make them a threat to
our national security. And, to Obrador’s point, we shouldn’t forget their humanity.
Trump, unfortunately, is prone to doing so and he doesn’t seem to understand the factors that drive migration. He likes to impose tariffs so much that at one point he nicknamed himself “Tariff Man.” He believes that trade wars are good and easy to win. Still, imposing tariffs on Mexico could easily exacerbate the border crisis.
Another thing that should be obvious about Trump’s plan to slap tariffs on Mexico is that such
tariffs would have a disproportionate impact on Texas. All Americans would be affected in their capacity as consumers, of course, and those in certain industries are now at risk of retaliatory tariffs. But the risk to Texas’ economy is singular because of its integration with the Mexican economy.
Since NAFTA took effect in 1994, our respective manufacturing sectors have grown and become intertwined; many imports from Mexico have parts made in Texas. We should therefore expect tariffs imposed on Mexico
to result in job losses in Texas, in addition to everything else.
It’s traditional for the governor of Texas to pick fights with the federal government, even if the president isn’t bothering us — as this president is.
But Gov. Greg Abbott hasn’t had much to say in response to Trump’s threats.
“The crisis at our southern border is at a breaking point,” Abbott said in a statement released Friday. “I’ve previously stated my opposition to tariffs due to the harm it would inflict on the Texas economy, and I remain opposed today. Nevertheless, the President is trying to address this emergency. Now, Congress must do its job and start passing laws to fix our broken immigration system.”
Abbott makes his own decisions. As Texans, we live with the consequences.
It was nice of Obrador to speak up for us, though, after Trump's ham-handed attempt to bully him. I’m glad that he took the opportunity to remind us of our nation’s values.