We all need to hear her take on drug trafficking and immigration

By Herbert Rothschild

It isn’t hard to imagine that someone else might see things differently than we do. Somehow, though, when it comes to our nation’s grievances against Mexico, our collective imagination fails.

This failure didn’t begin with Donald Trump. Discussions in our public forum of drug trafficking and immigration rarely have acknowledged U.S. responsibility for both problems and the extent to which Mexico has suffered.

Over the years I’ve been writing this column, from time to time I’ve pointed out how our economic exploitation of nations south of our border and our support of repressive regimes that cooperate in that exploitation have driven people to desperation and flight. I’ve also pointed out that it is our insatiable demand for recreational drugs that has created the Mexican cartels, and it’s our weapons that have made the cartels so lethal.

It would be better if we heard these truths from someone in Mexico, but our mainstream media rarely give anyone there an opportunity. Perhaps because they don’t much like President-elect Trump, or perhaps because Trump made so outrageous a threat, mainstream media finally allowed us to hear from Mexico when its president, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, responded to Trump after he posted on Truth Social on Nov. 25 that, immediately after assuming office, he will impose a 25% tariff on products from Mexico and maintain them until Mexico stops fentanyl trafficking and migration.

I’d like you to hear Sheinbaum’s own words. I found the following translation of her letter to Trump in Portside, an alternative, leftist publication. In a few places the translation is awkward.

“Dear President-elect Donald Trump,

“I am writing to you in response to your statement on Monday, Nov. 25, regarding immigration, fentanyl trafficking and tariffs.

“You are probably not aware that Mexico has developed a comprehensive policy to assist migrants from different parts of the world who cross our territory and are destined for the southern border of the United States of America. As a result, and according to figures from your country’s Border Patrol and Customs, encounters at the border between Mexico and the United States have been reduced by 75% from December 2023 to November 2024. By the way, half of those who arrive do so through a legally granted appointment by the United States program called CBP1. For these reasons migrant caravans no longer arrive at the border. Even so, it is clear that we must jointly arrive at another model of labor mobility that is necessary for your country and to address the causes that lead families to leave their places of origin out of necessity. If a percentage of what the United States allocates to war is dedicated to the construction of peace and development, the mobility of people will be fundamentally addressed.

“On the other hand, and for humanitarian reasons, we have always expressed Mexico’s willingness to prevent the fentanyl epidemic from continuing in the United States, which is also a problem of consumption and public health in the country. So far this year, the Mexican armed forces and the attorney general’s office have seized tons of different types of drugs, 10,340 weapons, and arrested 15,640 people for violence related to drug trafficking. A constitutional reform is in the process of being approved in the legislative branch of my country to declare the production, distribution, and marketing of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs a serious crime without the right to bail. However, it is public knowledge that chemical precursors enter Canada, the United States, and Mexico illegally from Asian countries, for which international collaboration is urgently needed.

“You should also be aware of the illegal arms trafficking that comes to my country from the United States. Seventy percent of the illegal weapons seized from criminals in Mexico come from your country. We do not produce the weapons, we do not consume synthetic drugs. Unfortunately, we are the ones who die from crime to meet the demand for drugs in your country. President Trump, it is not with threats or tariffs that we will address the migration phenomenon or drug use in the United States. Cooperation and mutual understanding are required to address these great challenges. One tariff will be followed by another in response, and so on until we put common companies at risk. For example, the main exporters from Mexico to the United States are General Motors, Stellantis and Ford Motor Co., which came to Mexico 80 years ago. Why impose a tax that puts them at risk? It is not acceptable and would cause inflation and job losses for the United States and Mexico.

“I am convinced that North America’s economic strength lies in maintaining our commercial partnership, so that we can continue to be more competitive against other economic blocs. I believe that dialogue is the best path to understanding, peace and prosperity for our nations. I hope that our teams can meet soon.”

Herbert Rothschild’s columns appear Fridays. Opinions expressed in them represent the author’s views. Email Rothschild at [email protected].