Mexico welcomes the exemption of fingerprinting and photographs for quick border crossings
Mexicans who cross the Mexico-USA border with a valid visa and nearby destination will no longer be fingerprinted, a practice that is being called a “good-faith gesture toward (…) Mexicans.” With millions of visa-holding mexicans crossing the border each day for work and school, this is a first step towards streamlining the immigration issues between Mexico and the USA.
Mexico struggles to secure its southern border
Mexico’s southern border, cloaked in jungle and largely uninhabited stretches of mountain, traversed by hundreds of Guatemalan immigrants on their way north, has begun to draw attention. “Mexico struggles with some of the same safety, security and fairness issues regarding the waves of poor Central American immigrants who flow illegally through its southern border on the way to the United States.”
Corruption hits airwaves, politicians exposed in Mexico
Corruption is endemic in Mexico, ingrained in its political system from the very roots to the crown. In many cases it is impossible to get as simple a transaction as a drivers licence in a decent amount of time whithout having to fork over a bribe. Recently, through President Fox’s efforts to minimize corruption throughout the country, such as creating special “payment” offices for transactions such as drivers licenses, he has come to declare that although there are still large incidences of corruption in Mexico, the country has become “more democratic.” Upon this positive wave there has been an outburst of “outings” in an apparent anti-corruption war.