EXODUS: US-Mexico Border Region
By Dr. Alberto M. Correa
Diaspora entrepreneurship has been recognized as a phenomenon that can contribute to regional and national economic development of the host country, due to the fact that it may create jobs, stimulate innovation and create social capital. However, not all forms of diaspora entrepreneurship contribute effectively to improving the economic conditions. When the diaspora manifests as the results of attractive conditions for doing business, either in new market opportunities, in an attractive business environment or in government incentives for growing new capital in the host country, experience demonstrate that new ventures flourish at a surprising rate. On the other hand however, when the diaspora is the result of a forced migration due to specific conditions in the parent country that influence the business environment in a negative way, the results are not as positive as they are in the previous case. Forced entrepreneurs diaporas create in many cases lack of trust towards the newly arrived, making difficult to establish their new ventures, create jobs and contribute effectively to the regional economic advancement. Migration laws may become an important obstacle. Previous experiences on illegal immigration may be other factor that prevents diaspora entrepreneurs to be successful.
Many examples have been analyzed through the years by the World Bank worldwide (France, Germany, Italy, the UK are cases where this phenomenon has had negative consequences) and in particular by the Migration Policy Institute in the United States (Mexican diaspora).
Consequently, the questions arise: is this what is going on the US Mexico Border region as a result of the violence generated on the Mexican side by the drugs war? What we see in Cd. Juarez, Monterrey, Matamoros, Laredo is a real diaspora entrepreneurship or just the manifestation of a limited number of cases of people that have received the impact of the violence and are recurring to a non-deeply-assessed solution? Is this phenomenon really contributing to the economic development of the regions on the U. S. side where migration occurs, or is becoming a burden for the local residents with serious repercussions in the medium and long term? Will this diaspora contribute in the future to solving the regional problems or on the contrary, will increase them? Because other Mexican border cities like Tijuana have adopted the opposite resolution with excellent results on the short term basis.
This is a complex problem that should be analyzed not only under the regional economic development optics, but also from the social and political viewpoint. In the meantime, several organizations on the US side are trying to buffer the impact of this migration to make an easier transition that could turn positive for everybody. That is the case of the International Institute for Entrepreneurial Advancement, Inc. (called I2EA) the executive and legal arm of the El Paso del Norte Chapter of the Network of Mexican Talents Abroad. This organization that is currently in operation in El Paso del Norte region, with headquarters in El Paso, TX, perceives the diaspora entrepreneurship problem as a need to provide reliable and trustworthy collaboration schemes to migrant entrepreneurs, for establishing an environment where new ventures could flourish with positive results for the region, but primarily for contributing to solve the problems that generated the diaspora itself, as well as for strengthening the bilateral relationship among those two countries.
The El Paso del Norte Chapter has over 100 members, many of them are postgraduates in different fields, capable of carrying on extensive analyses on the economic, social, managerial, engineering and scientific disciplines. This is the main competitive advantage of the group, which can tackle any problem when dealing with the alternative of helping the diaspora entrepreneurship, by writing their business plans, by sharing with them their experiences of doing business in the United States, or by integrating their activities into the local business environment.
But even under these circumstances, the main question still arises: Is this the solution to the local problems, or just an aspirin to the cancer produced by the war on drugs? The answer as we said is highly complex. But we are sure of one point. Drug addiction and drug trafficking is the result of a highly insecure and impoverished environment, where available jobs are not enough to cover the population needs, and where those existing are not well paid. A wealthy border is the real solution to the drug cancer. And a wealthy border can not be build up when the diaspora entrepreneurship does exists, when the capitals are migrating to the U. S. side, and where what is left behind in the parent country is more unemployment and poverty.
The government of both countries should look very careful to this on going phenomenon, because their consequences could be deleterious to the current solutions they are trying to implement.
Let’s remember that money is a commodity and that the capital migrates to places that could offer a solid environment of security and trust. That if the personal integrity is at risk, people would do anything to protect their families, their businesses, their capitals. We invite the people at the border region to consider very seriously the alternatives at hand, and offer our help to contribute to the future wellbeing of the region.
Dr. Alberto M. Correa is the President of the El Paso del Norte Chapter of the Network of Mexican Talents Abroad.
