A full-page letter in the NYTIMES today from president Fox of Mexico…chiding us and asking us to welcom those who choose to enter our country illegally. I have a few questions for pres. Fox:
-if we are to accept the unemployed of Mexico, how about YOU give US access to your screwed-up economy?
Mexico is a major oil producer, exporter of food 9vegetables0, has substantial raw materials (iron, copper, gold, silver, etc.) yet treats its poor like slaves. The Mexican elite (mafia) likes things the way they are.
So, President FOX-what about MY proposals?
Link? I hate to weigh in without knowing the facts.
Hows about him accepting the huddled masses from the south of Mexico?
Under NAFTA, what “access” don’t we have?
Beyond national pride, I believe the entire issue could be resolved by adding Mexico to the US. No it wouldn’t be problem free, but it would resolve the major issues.
No, it would create massive new ones. You can’t be serious.
Sure I can; and there would be inital issues, but they would be short term (2 decades tops IMHO), and would resolve all the long term issues.
If the U.S. actually ever did annex Mexico I would predict a very bloody war with the mafia/drug cartels. It would also take more then just the FBI and DEA, but a real military presence.
I wouldn’t want the US to annex Mexico (in the traditional sense); but rather have Mexico petition for statehood. There might be a pretty bloody ‘crime war’; but in the end that would be good for the people of Mexico (and ultimately the US).
Do you want to take on the burden of such an impoverished state?
I sure don’t.
And you’re only moving the border southwards. Mexico itself has a massive problem with illegal immigrants sneaking up from South and Central America, making their way across Mexico, and then to the United States. This wouldn’t stop if Mexico became part of the US. If anything, it’d increase.
Vast resources, hard working people, and some debt; it would be a challenge but in the end, a good one (IMHO).
You don’t think a border ~1,100 km (across 2 countries, with serveral natural barriers) woudn’t be easier to ‘sure up’ than a border ~3,100 km (few significant natural barriers).
Advice from those in power suggesting we accept and offer comfort to those from other lands is nothing new…
Deuteronomy 10
- "He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.
- "So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Unless your ancestors came to America as a slave, your ancestor came to America for a better life…we are all descendants of aliens…
I wonder what American Indians would have to say about that.
The vagueness of your reply is duly noted. But what is your point?
That’s irrelevant to the current debate. The question is specifically over ILLEGAL immigration, not immigration in general. Most of our immigrant ancestors came here legally by the standards of the times; those that came here illegally back then (including, arguably, the first settlers who trespassed on Indian land) shouldn’t have, nor should illegal immigrants now.
Out of curiosity, does anyone know exactly how easy it would be for an American to get a work permit in Mexico? If I want to go try my luck down there, will I be welcomed with open arms?
How is it irrelevant? Fox says we should welcome the huddled masses. Well maybe we should. It is an idea at least as old as the hebrew scriptures.
What makes this land “ours”? That we were able to claim it and tame it and become strong enough that an organized force cannot take it over?
What I am saying is that these people are coming here not to take bread from our table, but to escape a complete anscence of opportunity. They are not trying to buy a Benz. They want to send enough money home to buy medicine, food and shelter for their family. Go to a poor village in Honduras and tell me you would not do whatever it takes to go to the great rich America and get enough money to offer your family some support.
In Guatemala one of the chief causes of infant death is upper respiratory infections, which are easily treated here. However the treatment is often prohibitively expensive to most of the people living in the highlands. You would not want to go to America so you could ensure your child has medicine if he needs it?
Also, many of the Central American countries are empoverished in large part due to American foreign policy in the 1980s. We helped to create the climate of poverty and now the chickens are coming home to roost.
Admittedly it is my Christian love for my fellow man that says I should feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty and shelter the homeless, regardless of who they are or how they got here.
That pesky Jesus… 
Screw Mister Fox. When Mexico cheerfully accepts the huddled masses from south of his border, then he can talk.
Mister Fox and the Mexican government are propped up by the US dollars flowing in from the US via their illegal immigrants. We eat the costs of medical care, education, social collateral damage, … while Mexico gets the money.
Mexico is a third world nation that in its’ delusions of granbdeur puts itself on the same plane as the US and Canada. All that distinguishes Mexico from the other south and pan-American third-worlders is its’ size.
Maybe I misunderstand your position. I have no problem taking in huddled masses from all over the world – actually, I kind of enjoy it. (There’s nothing I like more than stories of poor immigrants who come to this country and make a better life for themselves.) Having said that – and maybe this is where I misunderstand/disagree with you – I do NOT think that means that means that any and every person who wants to come here has a right to. We have a right to determine how many people come here, where they’re coming from, and other factors. The fact that most of us have immigrant ancestors has nothing to do with it. We can only successfully support XX number of immigrants every year – in a theoretical situation in which EVERY person around the world who wanted to move her could and did, our country would likely collapse.
That said, maybe we can support more immigrants every year than we currently do – I don’t know. Whichever way you look at it, though, the system definitely needs an overhaul.
And personally speaking, I don’t think we should cut any special deals with Mexico regarding immigration. Mexico has been by far our largest source of immigrants for years; and considering the number of illegal immigrants (and the Mexican government’s tacit support of those immigrants) they’ve also been abusing the position for years. Our country is supposed to be open to immigrants from all over the world; I think it would make sense to cut back on the number of Mexican immigrants for a while but greatly increase the number of visas granted to people from other countries – why not give more poor Africans a shot to work here and send money back to their families? Or how about the Russians, or Vietnamese, or Brazilians, or Haitians, or people from any number of countries? I don’t see why Mexicans should get any more advantages to come here than they already have.
I am not really disagreeing with you, but trying to spur a dialogue, probably mostly within myself. But from where does this “right” you speak of derive?
Why do you think this?
I agree. I guesse we disagree on just how it should be overhauled.
Yep, Bu that would be of the legal variety. Big difference, don’t you think?
The method they came is different, but the level of humanity owed them is not.