Oh, Ambassador
Last week, Ken Salazar, the Ambassador of the United States in Mexico, paid a visit to the city of Mexicali, where he held a meeting with Baja California Governor Marina Avila. During the visit, the U.S. official visited the Calexico West Port of Entry, where he received information on the operations of one of the most active checkpoints on the Southwest border.
In his message, the Ambassador highlighted the multimillion-dollar investment that President Joe Biden’s administration has made in border ports.
In addition, he said the projects built by the Biden administration in the border ports reflect the good relationship between the governments of Mexico and the United States.
After the event, to which the press was invited just the night before, the Ambassador visited the area of the wetlands fed by Colorado River water on the border between Sonora and Baja California.
In the event at the downtown Mexicali port of entry, there were a series of omissions on the part of the U.S. government representative to Mexico.
First of all, Salazar chose not to talk about the long waiting times caused by the federal understaffing of the local and many other ports of entry, those which sometimes increase wait times up to several hours. This issue has led the Imperial Valley to lose significant amounts of money and jobs that have led many Mexicali residents to prefer to stay on the Mexican side of the border instead of spending dozens of their precious minutes in shopping, visiting relatives, or eating food in their favorite places in the Imperial Valley.
During the brief tour, the Ambassador also did not speak about the ill-treatment travelers suffer in some cases from those “bad apples” that work for the U.S. CBP locally. I must clarify that not all federal agents who work at border ports are rude to those who cross the border. The problem is that those few make a lot of noise and stain the important work of the agency. In some cases, such mistreatment has affected some U.S. citizens and many Mexicans. Perhaps the root of the problem is due in part to the long work hours of the officers and lack of enough personnel, although I would not rule out cases of racism and discrimination by a handful of some of them, who in rare cases have to face justice for their misdeeds.
On the other hand, the issue of wasted infrastructure was also not addressed, especially on the Mexican side. The government of our neighboring country invested significant sums of Mexican cash so drivers could pass quickly through three lanes in the downtown area and another two on the side of Colonia Pueblo Nuevo in order to expedite passage and reduce travel wait times. However, thanks to CBP’s decision to create a filter to identify those who have the proper documentation to cross into the United States before stepping on American soil after attempts by citizens of other countries to illegally cross the United States, it has affected trade and the environment.
The Ambassador also forgot the alerts issued by the Department of State, the agency under whose jurisdiction the Embassy is located, to U.S. citizens when visiting the rural area of the neighboring municipality due to the wave of violence that has affected the Valley of Mexicali since a few years ago, which coincide with the arrival of the National Regeneration Movement, headed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
For all this, the only positive thing about the tour that allowed the Ambassador to hold a photo op with Governor Avila is simply that – his visit, which leaves me wondering if the visit of other major officials would really benefit the Imperial Valley in the coming future.