U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) believes the U.S. needs to rethink its relationship with its southern neighbor because the country violated international law.
The Mexican government, using the military, seized Vulcan Material’s deep-water port in Quintana Roo, Mexico, in 2023.
Earlier this week, Mexico was found to have broken international law, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in its yearslong campaign against Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials, a now-public tribunal from the World Bank reports.
Alabama’s Congressional delegation has repeatedly condemned Mexico over the incident, demanding answers and accountability.
Palmer discussed the issue Thursday on “The Rightside” with Allison Sinclair and Amie Beth Shaver, in partnership with Yellowhammer News.
“Lopez decides though that he wants it,” Palmer said about the then-President of Mexico. “He wants to build a railroad from around there that will connect to the various Mayan ruins, that very popular with tourists that takes it all the way down to one of the resort areas. And obviously Vulcan didn’t want to sell that facility and they offered him a ridiculously low price for it to begin with. So he just sends in the military and they took it and shut it down. So I reached out to the Mexican ambassador to the United States and set up a meeting and Senator Britt, Senator Tuberville, Dell Strong, I think Robert Aderholt, Terry Sewell, it was pretty much the whole delegation went in to hear their side of the story.”
The Mexican government claimed at the time that it was just a “civil dispute.”
Palmer told the Mexican ambassador in response that “in America, if we have a civil dispute, we don’t send in the military.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is telling her country that Mexico won. But Vulcan Materials Chairman Tom Hill told Bloomberg that “Mexico is 100% guilty” — and the fight is far from over.
“So the bottom line is they just decided to take it,” Palmer said. “[U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas)] has introduced a bill. I spoke on the bill on the floor and I compared the Mexican government to a cartel. They’re really it’s really not a legitimate government in my opinion. They operate more like a cartel and the cartels have tremendous influence on them. Basically own them.”
The congressman thinks there needs to be more accountability against the Mexican government for these actions.
“So what I’m doing now is I’m advising any American company that’s thinking about locating a Mexico to consider if they want to nearshore an industry rather than bring it in the United States,” he said. “So if you can’t bring it here, maybe you should consider Guatemala or El Salvador or someplace that is now more stable and basically make Mexico relevant.”
U.S. Sens. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) joined U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) in introducing the Defending American Property Abroad Act in September 2024, and the House passed its own version with vast support from both Republicans and Democrats.
The bill, which would let the president bar vessels that use expropriated port infrastructure from U.S. ports, is pending in the Senate.
“This is just thuggery,” Palmer said. “They don’t care about it. They don’t care about their people. If they did, their people wouldn’t need to come across our border.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
