MEXICAN GOVERNMENT TO DISTRIBUTE BORDER SURVIVAL KITS

Beginning next month, the Mexican government will distribute border survival kits to people planning on crossing the US-Mexico border without authorization.  The kits will contain information on what the migrants can expect, as well as medicines and food.  As part of the program, the government will also train volunteers in the treatment of minor injuries.

Critics of the program say that it will encourage undocumented immigration.  Others, however, accept that people will continue to seek employment in the US even without permission, and believe that any effort to protect them should be taken.  Last year, according to the Mexican government, at least 490 Mexicans died while crossing the border.  So far this year, the death rate is about one a day, but the number always rises during the hot summer months.

The US Border Patrol supports the effort.  For some years now, Border Patrol agents have carried supplies to treat ailing and injured migrants, and have been receiving instruction in emergency medical treatment.  While migrants make every effort to avoid agents, in many cases agents are the only thing standing between the migrants and death in the desert.

The new program was created by the Office for Mexicans Abroad, a newly formed office in the Mexican government.  It reflects the larger shift in the attitude of the Mexican government to Mexican migrants, and toward immigration in general.  Under President Vicente Fox, the Mexican government has begun reaching out to Mexicans living in the US.  There is also less concern within the Mexican government about the US’s reaction to it’s immigration policy.