Mexico Ambassador Nominee Says We Need Immigration Reform and Gun Control

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

The woman set to become the next U.S. Ambassador to Mexico has interesting ideas about border security.

Roberta Jacobson is a career civil servant who recently led the negotiating team that works to reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba. On Monday President Obama named her to be the next Ambassador to Mexico, pending Senate approval.

Ms. Jacobson majored in Latin American studies at Brown University, and in 2013 she was interviewed by the Brown Daily Herald, the school’s student publication. In the interview she mentioned two domestic issues which, taken together, would have a direct effect on border security:[pullquote] [tweet_dis]Taken together, immigration reform and gun control would have a direct effect on border security.[/tweet_dis][/pullquote]

“[T]here are two domestic issues, which, if moved, will make a huge difference in our foreign policy… One, obviously, is comprehensive immigration reform. If that gets passed, which I’m very optimistic about and I know the president is for this year, that’s going to be enormous, very positive.”

“But the second [domestic issue] is if we can do anything on gun control, which we have not been able to do or even really debate in years. And Mexico, like Central America and the Caribbean, has been very critical of the flow of illicit guns to their countries.”

One of the problems with the border security issue is that all points of debate and solutions center on the border itself – building walls, sending troops, flying drones … But [tweet_dis]a better approach to border security is reforming immigration in the U.S. and controlling the flow of guns. [/tweet_dis] Both of which are important issues to Jacobson and have little to do with the borderline itself.

There are, though, a couple of things that must be mentioned about the Ambassador nominee. As the IJRevew reports, “the State Department she has spent more than two decades working for has approved the sale of thousands of firearms to the Mexican military. In addition, the ‘Fast and Furious’ program allowed firearms to be “walked” in to Mexico, which were ultimately put in the hands of Mexican cartels and criminals.”

There is no mention of a time frame for the Senate to consider Jacobson’s nomination.