Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for the 108th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Dec. 22, 2004 |
| Report Number |
RL31876 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
K. Larry Storrs, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The United States and Mexico have a special relationship as neighbors and partners under the
North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The friendly relationship has been strengthened by
President Bush's meetings with President Fox but has been weakened by disagreements over Iraq
and other issues. Major congressional issues are trade, migration/border security, drug trafficking,
and political issues.
Trade. Since 1994, NAFTA institutions have been functioning, trade
between the countries
has tripled, and allegations of violations of labor and environmental laws have been considered. The
Bush Administration has argued that NAFTA has had modest positive impacts on all three member
countries, but Mexican farmers have strongly criticized the effects of NAFTA. Recent trade disputes
with Mexico have involved trucking, telecommunications, tuna, sweeteners and sugar.
Migration/Border Security. In February 2001, Presidents Bush and Fox
agreed to establish
high-level talks to ensure safe, legal, and orderly migration flows between the countries, but the talks
stalled after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, and border controls were later strengthened under
the new Department of Homeland Security. In January 2004, President Bush proposed a major
immigration reform "to match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers when no
Americans can be found to fill the jobs." In December 2004, Congress passed the Intelligence
Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 ( S. 2845 / P.L. 108-458 ), with provisions
to increase immigration law enforcement personnel and to adopt more stringent border control and
identity document standards.
Drug Trafficking. Bush Administration officials have regularly praised
Mexico's
counter-narcotics efforts under Fox, especially action against major traffickers, and have
characterized the bilateral cooperation in this area as unprecedented. The State Department reported
in April 2004, however, that marijuana and opium poppy cultivation increased significantly in
Mexico in 2003. In recent law enforcement actions, on October 19, 2004, DEA officials announced
the dismantling, through Operation Money Clip, of a major Mexican money-laundering and drug
trafficking organization operating in the United States.
Political and Human Rights. In nation-wide elections on July 6, 2003, to
renew the Chamber
of Deputies, President Fox's PAN fared poorly, while the previously dominant PRI and the leftist
PRD increased representation, making congressional approval of President Fox's reform measures
less likely. Local elections are being held in an environment in which the parties are positioning
themselves for the July 2006 presidential elections. On human rights issues, President Fox has
designated special prosecutors to prosecute those responsible for human rights abuses in the 1970s
and 1980s, but little progress has been made. On December 10, 2004, President Fox, responding to
an analysis by the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights, presented a series of proposed reforms
to discourage torture and to strengthen the rights of defendants in Mexico.
