John Higham, defined nativism as a “intense opposition to an internal minority on the ground of its foreign connections” (Higham 148). Today in our society in America, you can make a case for this happening with a few groups of immigrants. Mexicans and Arabs are the two that stick out. But I will go to a different country and elaborate how our neighbors to our South implement their immigration laws in hope to conserve their nativist principles as well. To show that it is not just the United States that has this ideology, but the whole world as a whole.

Along Mexico’s southern border in the state of Chiapas, Mexico has sent migration agents, local and federal police and soldiers and marines to create a containment zone. (Fredrick). Even the new president has created the countries first special border patrol force. This is with the hopes that they will be able to limit the migration from other South American countries from entering theirs. These countries include, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras. Alfonso Durazo, the secretary of public security said “the Obrador administration plans to encourage development in Central America, in order to solve the structural problems like poverty and violence” (Romero). Mexico has called for a southern border wall to keep these immigrants out who are fleeing violence from their own countries. Even one of the largest newspapers in Tamaulipas, a Sothern border state. El Manana published a article titled: ‘Yes to the Border Wall… But in Mexico’s South’ (Parry).

It is easy to see why Mexico is calling for this. With the huge influx of migrants from central America fleeing for asylum in the United States, many with very little money for the long journey ahead. The El Manana says “many of these migrants are unable to find a honest way of life and turn to robberies and kidnappings…” (Parry). Nativism is a construct scholar employ to explain hostility and intense opposition to foreigners (Smith). Which these actions show, but are they just?

Nativism in the past looked like what the British/Americans did to the Native Americans, what the Germans thought of the Jews any anyone other than the Arian race or what Stalin did to the dissidents of Communism. Today it has changed, no longer does it take millions of deaths, today it just takes millions of bricks to become a nativist in some people’s mind. But is this truly nativism? Is there a difference between what Mexico is trying to do compared to what the United States is? Or is nativism just a new word for racism in today’s society?

Higham, John. Another Look at Nativism. The Catholic Historical Review. Vol 44 No. 2 (1958) PP. 158 https://www.jstor.org/stable/25016352?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Accessed 2018

Fredrick, James. Mexico Deploys A Formidable Deportation Force Near Its Own Southern Border. Parallels. 2013. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/05/07/607700928/mexico-deploys-a-formidable-deportation-force-near-its-own-southern-border (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Accessed 2018

Parry, Hannah. Now Mexico wants to build a border wall with Central America to keep out illegal immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3790116/Mexico-wants-build-border-wall-Central-America-illegal-immigrants.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Accessed 2018

Romero, Luiz. Mexico’s new president is creating a special border patrol force, just like the US. Quartz. 2018. https://qz.com/1325983/mexico-president-andres-manuel-lopez-obrador-is-creating-a-new-border-patrol-force/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Accessed 2018

Smith, Geoffrey. Nativism. Encyclopedia of the New American Nation. http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/E-N/Nativism.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Accessed 2018