Recently, relations between the United States of America and Mexico have been extra strained. This is mostly due to the actions of the current President of the United States, and definitely does not represent the opinions of the United States population as a whole. However, despite the opinion of the current President of the United States, maintaining positive relations between the nations of Mexico and the United States are immensely important for a number of reasons. Some arguments are that the US needs to secure the border at all costs due to illegal activity that is happening, while some people say that building a wall is not necessary. Positive relations make it easier to stop crime in both nations and also help the economies of both nations through trade and workers. Recent policy presented by the President of the United States has greatly diminished relations between both nations. 

People who say, “Who cares about what Mexico thinks of us, we are America” or do not care about this topic at all are people that are uninformed and also misguided. Since Mexico is one of the closest countries to the United States, both nations share a lot more than just a border. The United States and Mexico are one of each other’s biggest trading partners, which means a lot of money comes from each other’s nations. If someone purchases goods at a Walmart or Best Buy, or enjoys a nice cold Corona then they should care because all three of these companies import goods from south of the border into the United States. Since almost everyone is a consumer from one or more of these three companies, they should care about relations between Mexico and the United States. Furthermore people who are United States citizens should care because this is the American government and the Mexican government having major problems. It is important that United States citizens stay informed on what is happening within the government so when election times roll around a good decision can be made on whether a candidate should be reelected or replaced. Say a candidate ruined relations with a neighboring country and hurt his own country in the long run, then it is the duty of the citizens to stay informed and replace that candidate as fast as possible. 

Currently, the train of thought for President Trump seems to be narrow-minded on the idea that his proposed wall will stop crime and the cartels, and his tariff will force Mexico to pay for the big wall he wants built along the United States southern border. However, it is important to note that it is not just the wall or economic sanctions that are causing this conflict between the United States and Mexico, it is important to note that Trump also plans on deporting up to 3 million people back to Mexico.

According to the US Department of State, relations with Mexico are “vital”. Also according to the Department of State, “U.S.-Mexican relations are broad and go beyond diplomatic and official relations, it entails extensive commercial, cultural, and educational ties.” The Department of State website gives all sorts of factual info on not just diplomatic relations between the US and Mexico, but also environmental, security, educational, and other types of relations. Basically, back when the webpage was published in 2013, relations between both countries where good (Mexico, US Department of State). Now, five years later, things have turned and relations are not so good. This is mostly due to the fact that the current President of the United States is insisting that the Mexican government will pay for an extensive border wall.

 According to a Fox News article by Banini Chakraborty, the cartels have stepped up activity along the border since the election of Donald Trump as President. The article gives insight into the future of border defense and fighting the cartels, as well as a look at the current increase in activity in response to the election of Donald Trump who plans on building a wall between the United States and Mexico. Chakraborty said that the reasons for such high amounts of traffic are “Obama administration's leniency, combined with concerns about Trump's crackdown.” The article talks to federal agents and their take on the matter of increased cartel activity, and they stated that they see a rise in activity around the border. Even US citizens who live in the area are cited as noticing a “big jump” in activity from the cartels moving over the border. “The cartels” are huge organized crime syndicates that traffic guns, drugs, and people across the US-Mexico border. Chakraborty’s article is not free of bias as bias in this article comes from the fact that it is Fox News and therefore more inclined to lean right. In this specific article, bias would come in the form of presenting only cases for more border protection and the need for a wall without really giving voice to the opposing side. 

  In short, cartels are trying to “beat the clock” and smuggle as much as possible before the wall is erected. The hope of the wall is to cut the amount of crime and illegal immigration, and while it is a good idea in theory, there are other ways to smuggle guns, drugs and people. For example, tunnels can be dug and gliders can be flown. It is not uncommon for tunnels to be found by Border Patrol and Customs agents, and gliders and drones are becoming increasingly more common. There have even been instances of cartels using catapults and cannons to propel drugs over the border. 

The wall seems that it may not do much other than enrage the current Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, who vehemently and vocally opposes the wall and the idea that Mexico will pay for the wall. In a video published by the Wall Street Journal, a clip was included where Nieto said, “Mexico will not pay for a wall.” The video further explains how talk of the wall is shaking up relations between the United and Mexico, specifically how Nieto cancelled a meeting with Trump where they planned to discuss the problems facing both nations. The election of Trump is the most recent and perhaps the largest event that has caused the relations between the United States and Mexico to go into a downward spiral. 

When Trump was elected, there were a few tweets from officials within the Mexican government that had a tone of mourning. According to a Time article written by Dominique Rowe, Foreign Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu tweeted in reference to Trump being elected, "We are with you. The government of President Enrique Peña Nieto and all Mexicans are with you. We are going to be closer than ever.” Rowe also reported that consulates have been issued with orders to expand their deportation defense operations, with hotlines for Mexican citizens who feared they were facing deportation. Mexicans living abroad in the United States were strongly encouraged to reach out to the nearest Mexican consulate or embassy. Claims made throughout the article are about how the Mexican government is “with its citizens” who are in the US, which sounds to be a tone of mourning as if its citizens in America just had a huge injustice done towards them by the US government. These are people who adopted the United States as their place of residence, following the idea of the “American Dream”, and now they feel as if they are being persecuted in their new homes. 

The problem with the wall that Trump wants built is that it isolates the United States from Mexico and seems to be a one-sided way to try and solve the problem of illegal immigration, guns, and drugs. Instead of taking the path of isolation that angers many Mexicans and Americans alike, working actively and cooperatively with Mexico to halt the powerful cartels would be a much better option. With cooperative work, both governments would be able to benefit, because the United States would be stopping the illegal guns, drugs, and immigrants while at the same time Mexico would be able to stop the cartels from causing unrest within their own borders. In the documentary “Cartel Land”, directed and produced by Matthew Heineman, Heineman followed around vigilante groups who were fighting against the cartels. His film won a lot of awards, and provided a first hand look at the people who are taking up arms to fight against the cartels. According to Heineman, people took up arms against the cartels because the government would not, and it became a matter of them defending their home from cartel aggression. Heineman said “Cartels controlled almost every aspect of civic life — from the local judicial system to the local police — and extorted people from multinational corporations to tortilla-makers.” He also said “[The citizens were] living in a society where institutions had failed, in the face of an ineffective government that was allowing the cartel to operate with impunity.” Due to the governments lacking control and not helping, private citizens started fighting to free themselves from cartel control. This was less opinion and more factual as it detailed one mans experience with anti-cartel groups. This piece would appeal to anyone regardless of political affiliation who wants to learn more about what the people are doing to fight against the oppressive cartels. Since cartels are an international problem, it should not be up to the average citizens to stop them, but rather the police and militaries that are better trained and equipped to accomplish such a monumental task. The cartels are a major problem with border security, hence why they are just as large a part of this paper as people who attempt to cross the border by illegal means. 

In order to pay for the Trump wall, Trump had the idea that a tax on Mexican imports be put in place. This idea has quickly been ripped apart by the media and other sources as a terrible idea, saying that in the end it will be the American consumer who winds up paying for the wall. Trump proposed a 20% tariff on all goods shipped from Mexico to the U.S. to pay for the wall, but this would just raise prices on goods. According to CNN writer Pat Gillepsie, “Companies from Ford and GM to retailers like Walmart and Best Buy will likely be hit hard,” due to the fact that they have facilities which are located in Mexico that import goods into the United States. According to Gillepsie, in the end this would cost jobs as he cited a similar 2009 tariff imposed on China by Obama, “That would end up costing jobs. That's what happened in 2009 after President Obama used tariffs on Chinese tires. It cost more jobs than it saved because prices for tires went up, one study found.”

While there are people who are in favor of Trump’s wall, it is clear after a little bit of internet research that the number is rather small because of the difficulty of finding sources that are written in a supportive standpoint of the wall.  One article that was in favor of Trump’s wall was by Politico writer Louis Nelson, who said, “Trump’s wall is ahead of schedule and the build is proceeding as planned.” In an address Trump made to the general public at a conservative convention recently, he talked about his plans to not only build the wall but also expel illegal immigrants, he mentions, “We are getting the bad ones out. These are bad dudes. We're getting the bad ones out.” The article further goes on to applaud Trump for keeping his campaign promises. The article says that Mexico has no intention of paying for the wall, yet maintains that Trump and other White House officials have insisted that the Mexican government ultimately will pay for the wall. This article was full of praise for Trump. A conservative reporter wrote this article about a conservative conference in Washington D.C., which was full of people who supported building a wall with Mexico. 

These ideas of building a wall and furthering a divide only make things worse between the United States and Mexico. As neighboring nations, it is important for the welfare of their citizens that the two nations get along. Having poor relations only makes things easier for the cartels that America is trying to stop, because why should Mexico care what cartels are doing in the United States if they have poor relations? With positive relations it would be in better interests of Mexico to stop cartel crime and help the United States.  One idea expressed in the article by Leanna Garfield of Business Insider, (Garlfield) is that instead of a wall there should be a national park along the border that is in both the United States and Mexico. The logic behind it is that the two governments will use mutual cooperation to take care of the park, and people from both countries can enjoy it for recreational activities. A park is much better for international cooperation because both nations will be responsible for the upkeep. 

In order to establish positive relations, the idea of a wall should be totally disregarded, and any funds that were originally going to be used to fortify the border and separate the United States and Mexico should be used to make the border a better place, between increasing funds to law enforcement units to fight the cartels, cleaning the border up and helping it environmentally, and just all around making it appear less like a demilitarized zone and more like a border akin to that in a European nation, where in a lot of European Union countries, unless you are paying attention you do not realize you are crossing a border. I am not saying that the United States and Mexico enter into a North American version of the EU, but I am saying that the two countries would both be at a loss if the negativity in relations continues and a wall is built. In the end a wall is not what will stop immigration, guns, and drugs, only cooperation can do that. It is better to work together with Mexico to achieve the goal of secure borders rather than just going off and building a wall saying that they will pay for it. It would be easier to work with the Mexican government and give support to stop cartels, which in turn stops crime from flowing over the border harming the United States and government interests. The US and Mexico are neighboring nations and currently the bickering going on between the two heads of states is reminiscent of grade school when two children argue and decide not to talk to each other. Nothing is being accomplished and mutual goals are not being reached because of poor relations.

I am interested in researching this topic because it is directly in-line with my major of International Studies, as well as my minor of Latin American Studies. With the thought of one day working for the State Department in Washington D.C., it is important to address the question of why keeping positive relations with Mexico is important, given that in the present it seems that Mexico-US relations are getting worse every day. Positive relations between the US and Mexico are important not just because the two countries are trade partners as well as neighbors, but also because both nations could work together to end the threat of drug cartels who bring crime and unrest to most of Mexico as well as parts of the south western United States. This question does not affect my values, but it is in the best interest of both nations governments to work together for mutual benefit. As my last name is Garcia, I have in the past been profiled for having a Latino last name. I would prefer to not go into specifics about the situations, but they occur mostly because of someone reading my name off of paper and not seeing me for who I am. While not entirely the same issue, I feel like I can relate just a little bit to the Mexican people who are in fear of deportation or being trapped behind a border wall. A lot of them are probably good people, but due to their name or where they are from they are discriminated against and are not welcome where they should be allowed to be. Walls separate people and separation is what leads to other bigger issues.
