El Jalapeño: US asks Mexico to keep its citizens from even looking at the border

On Thursday, U.S. officials formally asked Mexican authorities to establish a nationwide buffer zone to prevent Mexican citizens from coming within line-of-sight of the international border, sources confirmed. The request, made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco, would require approximately 12 million residents living near the border to either move further inland or obstruct their gaze towards the northern horizon.

While Mexico did not agree to obstruct citizens' views of the border, it did consent to installing barriers on paths leading toward the boundary to make approaching it somewhat more difficult.

Delegates familiar with the private meeting revealed that U.S. negotiators were worried that the mere presence of Mexican citizens within their own country poses a threat to illegal immigration. According to a senior U.S. official, "The fundamental issue is proximity. When a Mexican citizen stands on a sidewalk in Ciudad Juárez and looks across the river, it creates an atmosphere of potential movement."

Negotiators proposed that Mexico establish a 15-kilometer "Visual Exclusion Zone" along the northern frontier. In Tijuana, municipal planners are considering using large canvas curtains to obscure views of San Diego, and Nogales residents may soon have to submit weekly affidavits confirming they have no intention of walking north.

Mexico's response included the suggestion to install barriers on footpaths oriented toward the north, highlighting that previous cooperation had already significantly reduced cross-border foot traffic.

This diplomatic standoff occurred even though both governments publicly acknowledged recent successes in counter-narcotics and security integration efforts. Velasco acknowledged on X that existing security cooperation schemes had "yielded the best results in the region" but did not elaborate on whether these results entailed the eventual depopulation of northern Mexico.

U.S. officials expressed optimism that a compromise can be reached before the start of the next fiscal quarter, proposing that Mexican citizens seeking proximity to the border apply for a special domestic presence permit verifying their intentions are entirely coincidental.