The Impact of the Legal Architecture on U.S.-Mexico Relations
Link to publication in Mexico Today
The United States and Mexico have one of the most complex bilateral relationships. They share one of the largest land borders in the world covering 2,000 miles and linking four U.S. states and six Mexican states. On the U.S. side they include two of the largest states (Texas and California) and on the Mexican side they include four of the top ten states by GDP per capita (Nuevo Leon, Sonora, Baja California, and Coahuila). Mexico is the U.S.’s number one trading partner and close to 80 percent of Mexican exports go to the U.S market. Both countries also maintain a close energy interdependence. In 2019, Mexico became the number one destination of U.S. natural gas exported via pipelines, U.S. gasoline exports supply more than half of Mexico’s gasoline consumption, and Mexico is the U.S.’s second-largest import source of crude oil. Also, more than 61 percent of the U.S. Latinx population is of Mexican descent (Latinx accounted for 52 percent of all population growth in the U.S. and make up 18.4 percent of the total U.S. population). It is not surprising then that the number of Mexican Consulates in the U.S. (50) is close to the total number of Mexican Embassies around the globe (80).
In a few words, U.S.-Mexico relations have an impact on every fiber of American and Mexican lives: security, trade, citizenship, pollution, employment, immigration, cross-border crime, cultural engagement, consular protection, financial cooperation, information sharing, etc. The multidimensional character of the U.S.-Mexico relationship is unmatched, yet thereare very few studies that have unpacked the institutional architecture that keeps it alltogether.
Instinct would dictate that the Embassies in Mexico City and Washington D.C. are thestarting point for U.S-Mexico cooperation at any level and that both federal governmentssign international treaties to face many common challenges. The reality on the ground, justlike the relationship, is much more complex. Based on data collected through a freedom ofinformation request filed in Mexico and through an analysis of international agreementsdisclosed by the U.S. Department of State, it is evident that the two countries have decided to base their everyday relationship primarily on a multitude of inter institutional agreements (classified as memorandums of understanding or letters of intent) signed by different government agencies, consular officers, federal and state departments, state governors and city majors. According to the released data, Mexican and U.S. authorities at all levelsof government have signed a total of 1,832 interinstitutional agreements betweenJanuary 2000 and December 2020. In sum, Mexican and U.S. government officials haveopted not to elevate the entire complexity of the bilateral relationship to an internationaltreaty level that would have required the signatures of both Presidents and the ratificationof both Congresses.
Among the multiple topics covered by these U.S.-Mexico inter institutional agreements are: setting common standards and practices for energy markets, coordinating radio-frequency at the border for crime prevention, improving repatriation processes for Mexican nationals detained in the U.S., fostering economic and industrial policies along the Arizona-Sonora border, funding research in think tanks and state-run universities, creating joint protocols for the protection of migratory species and coping with common phytosanitary risks.
Of the 1,832 inter institutional agreements, 452 were signed by Mexican federal agencies and 310 involved their federal agency counterparts in the U.S.. That is, the majority of thefederal level signed agreements involve federal to federal inter-agency cooperation.Nonetheless, Mexican federal agencies also signed 55 agreements with state and local U.S.authorities, and 87 agreements with U.S. state universities, government-funded think-tanks,or research centers.
These agreements are the heart and soul of the institutional relationship between theU.S. and Mexico and tend to outlive the cycles of politics. Treaties are no longer the standard for the U.S. and Mexico to collaborate, regulate their interactions, and face common problems. The findings of this research set forth how State behavior is beingdriven by bureaucracies and their networks and also demonstrate how international lawoperates in practice. Studying and understanding these agreements is important for bothnations not only because their operation impacts the life of the 17 million people who livealong the U.S.-Mexico border, but for the future of the entire region. .
