Hurricane Harvey recently dumped a record setting amount of water in Texas. As individuals are still waiting to be rescued, to some it may seem we are repeating the events of Hurricane Katrina.
Recently, it has come to light that the Trump Administration is still considering whether they will accept aid from Mexico, despite the fact the aftermath of the hurricane has no end in sight. The Trump Administration may not have the best record of correspondence with Mexico, but it is my opinion that the Administration should swallow their pride and accept the aid.
Some people may not know this, but the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina led former President George W. Bush to accept a large aid offer from Mexico. Mexican troops served thousands of meals to displaced hurricane victims and played a huge part in lessening the horrible effects of the storm.Mexico provided supplies to victims, along with hundreds of medical consultations for the injured, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Mexico has also sent aid during Hurricane Sandy, and they continuously send aid to help fight wildfires on U.S. soil.
It is obvious Mexico could provide a great deal of help while the U.S. government sends in their own aid, but President Trump has delayed the decision while countless people wait to be rescued.
While Trump continues to whine about Mexico paying for the wall on Twitter, he hasn’t even considered accepting aid as possible reparations for his constantly-touted wall. Although, in my ideal reality, Mexico wouldn’t be paying for a wall. Not to mention, political agreements between countries shouldn’t take place on Twitter.
After Trump’s comments about Mexico sending “drugs, criminals and rapists” into the U.S., Trump should consider himself lucky that Mexico is even offering aid.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson praised Mexico’s generous offer to help the U.S. Yet, no further action has been taken.
On the flip side, accepting aid from foreign countries does require an extensive bureaucratic process. But the sooner the U.S. accepts aid, the sooner more victims can be helped.
There are also claims that Mexican aid wouldn’t help much, as the U.S. has already begun a massive response to the storm.
Despite this, the lack of a response from the Trump Administration speaks volumes about any future diplomacy. By continuing to give Mexico the political equivalent of the cold shoulder, we could deteriorate our relationships with other countries, whether they are our allies or not.
It almost seems like those with experience in U.S. government are constantly trying to make up for Trump’s actions or lack of action. In reality, our representatives should simply be focused on serving us, even if Donald Trump is a natural-born citizen with those same representatives. Although, I would like to see his birth certificate, just to make sure.
