Mexico & Nafta - October 2011 (ISSN 1741-444X)

Illegal migration: The number of illegal immigrants arrested at the US-Mexico border has fallen dramatically this year and could be at a 40-year low by the end of this fiscal year (30 September), according to figures released by the US border patrol. Officials say that at some sections of the border (El Paso, Yuma and San Diego, for example) 90% of potential immigrants are arrested, whilst in others, such as Tucson, the arrest rate is approximately 70%. This would indicate that the arrest rate provides a closer estimate of the total number of illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border than in previous years, when the percentage of arrests made was lower. Fewer Latin Americans are making the journey to the US border because of the economic crisis in the US. The number of illegal immigrants who die whilst trying to reach the US has not fallen, however, with 144 known deaths per 100,000 in 2011. This compares to 119 deaths in 2010 and 39 in 2004. A large number of immigrants die in the Arizona desert; particularly after the US erected high barriers along more accessible bits of the border.

Oil exploration: The US and Mexico have started talks about how to exploit oilfields that may straddle the border between the US and Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico. On 19 May, the presidents of Mexico and the US signed an agreement committing the two countries to agree on the exploitation of oil fields in the Gulf which either straddle the border or stretch into international waters. The two countries committed themselves not to drill for oil in the Polígonal Occidental, one of the most promising areas for oil, until after 2014.

• Papaya

Mexico’s agriculture ministry denies that there is any conclusive proof that Mexican papayas are responsible for an outbreak of salmonella in 23 US states. The ministry points out that inspection of papaya exports between May and August found no evidence of the bug. The US Food & Drug Administration found traces of salmonella in 33 of the 211 papayas it inspected. The papayas came from 28 different Mexican exporters.

• Remittances

Remittances inflows to Mexico came to US$1.89bn in July, up 1.4% year-on-year. The inflow was, however, down 6% month-on-month from June. Over the first seven months of 2011, total inflows were up 4% on the same period of 2010 at US$13.08bn.