Mexico: High-tech solution for southern border

Most discussion on Mexico and immigration centers on the flow of migrants from that country into the U.S. However, an often overlooked issue is the tens of thousands of Central Americans who cross into Mexico via its southern border each year.

Mexican president Felipe Calderon has viewed that part of the immigration topic as “a law-and-order problem” and has tried to push a guest-worker program and increased border controls to control the influx of Central Americans into the country. The latest government initiative will be the use of electronic “smart cards” for visitors entering Mexico. According to the Associated Press:

Starting in March, the National Immigration Institute will distribute the cards to record the arrival and departure of so-called temporary workers and visitors. They will replace a non-electronic pass formerly given to foreigners who cross into Mexico, which has proven "easily alterable and subject to the discretion of migration agents," the institute said Thursday.

Will the Mexican government’s initiatives work? We’ll see.

Sources- AHN, Christian Science Monitor, El Universal, PRESS TV, Associated Press,

Image- New York Times (Some Central American migrants board on freight trains to cross into Mexico)