Mexico is to Blame for Our Illegal Immigrants
Written by Robert Klein Engler
Sunday, April 03, 2005
The uproar over President Bush's proposal to reform Social Security has died down. Taking the place of this uproar is a growing clamor over illegal immigration. You can't help but wonder if the former was a smoke screen to obscure a debate over the latter.
Because illegal immigration to the U. S. is a problem requiring controversial solutions, few politicians want to embrace this issue. Part of the solution involves securing our borders and deporting at least 2 or 3 million of the estimated 11.3 million in the U. S. illegally. What politician wants that, when they are relying on vested interests and always running for reelection?
Recently, I questioned why anyone should write more about the problems associated with illegal immigration. Most of our elected officials seem to be beyond persuasion and prefer to do nothing to stop the invasion of our country. Then I realized that if we cannot change their minds at least we can document their failures. Let the next generation decide who were the fools.
How many times do we read or hear that hardworking Mexicans are coming illegally to the U. S. to improve their lives? These Mexicans take low paying jobs because these low paying jobs are better than poverty in Mexico. Yet, why is it that most journalists do not ask the more important question about this migration: Why are there no jobs in Mexico for its citizens in the first place?
The lack of jobs in Mexico is not a problem you can lay at the feet of U. S. citizens. The U. S. is not responsible for Mexico and its poverty. Lack of jobs in Mexico is a Mexican problem that the Mexican government refuses to solve. Furthermore, U. S. elected officials and business men and women should not put the interest of Mexican nationals above the interest of U. S. citizens. It bears repeating that U. S. citizens ought to put patriotism before profits, too.
There are many reasons why Mexico does not have enough jobs for its citizens. Some of these reasons like the historical and cultural differences between the U. S. and Mexico should not be overlooked when we consider why the tide of illegal immigration ought to be held back. When Mexicans come illegally into the U. S. they not only bring their poverty, but a complex of cultural and historical baggage as well.
Instead of questioning why there are no jobs in Mexico, most illegal immigrants just take the easy way out and cross the border. Illegal immigrants from Mexico only have personal ambitions, not national allegiances. If illegal immigrants cared half as much about their own country, as they do about their pocketbooks, then they would stay in Mexico and work for social change there.
Change is needed in Mexican society to increase jobs, but for years nothing has been done to create those jobs. Years ago politicians in both countries knew the numbers of illegal Mexicans in the U. S. would dramatically increase because there were fewer and fewer jobs in Mexico for their growing population. Few politicians did anything, however, to stem this increase or create jobs. Now, the Pew Hispanic Center confirms what we all know. The center claims in a recent report that "Mexicans by far remain the largest group of undocumented migrants at 5.9 million (in the U. S.)."
A year ago it was proposed that if the U. S. government did not do something about illegal immigration, then citizens along the border would take things into their own hands. Now, we see that after April 1st, more than 1,000 volunteer civilian Minutemen, some of them legally armed, will be patrolling the border between Arizona and Mexico. President Bush may refer to the Minutemen as "vigilantes," but face the fact: People will take affairs into their own hands when the government refuses to protect them.
If you had a neighbor that was wasting his money on drink and cards and then sent his many children to your yard to play, and eventually eat and sleep, what would you do? Many would be considerate for a while, but when the children keep coming, you would ask your neighbor to clean up his life and take care of his own children. Failing that, you would resort to more drastic measures. Can we not see Mexico as that irresponsible neighbor, and ask that they get their national house in order? Mexico must stop sending us their problem children, or we ought to build a better fence.
Instead of building a better fence and deporting illegal immigrants, politicians in both the U. S. and Mexico will make those who complain into the problem. Now, the problem will be that we have vigilantes on the border, instead of illegal immigrants. Instead of saying "The borders are wide open, and we have to close them," we will hear official statement after statement about how we must "Let the Border Patrol do their job. Not vigilantes!" Political smoke screens never dissipate, they just move from one bureaucracy to another.
With their heads in the sands of Iraq, few in the Department of Homeland Security can see over the horizon to our wide-open borders and uncontrolled immigration from Mexico. That is a shame, because governments collapse when they worry more about a possible threat from afar than a real crisis at home. Social security is not just getting a check every month from the government, it is also feeling safe at work from an invading army of foreign, low paid workers.
About the Writer: Robert Klein Engler is an adjuct professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago, and a versatile writer of op-ed articles, poetry, and philosophy. His newest book, "A Winter of Words," is available from amazon.com.
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=13840&catcode=13
Written by Robert Klein Engler
Sunday, April 03, 2005
The uproar over President Bush's proposal to reform Social Security has died down. Taking the place of this uproar is a growing clamor over illegal immigration. You can't help but wonder if the former was a smoke screen to obscure a debate over the latter.
Because illegal immigration to the U. S. is a problem requiring controversial solutions, few politicians want to embrace this issue. Part of the solution involves securing our borders and deporting at least 2 or 3 million of the estimated 11.3 million in the U. S. illegally. What politician wants that, when they are relying on vested interests and always running for reelection?
Recently, I questioned why anyone should write more about the problems associated with illegal immigration. Most of our elected officials seem to be beyond persuasion and prefer to do nothing to stop the invasion of our country. Then I realized that if we cannot change their minds at least we can document their failures. Let the next generation decide who were the fools.
How many times do we read or hear that hardworking Mexicans are coming illegally to the U. S. to improve their lives? These Mexicans take low paying jobs because these low paying jobs are better than poverty in Mexico. Yet, why is it that most journalists do not ask the more important question about this migration: Why are there no jobs in Mexico for its citizens in the first place?
The lack of jobs in Mexico is not a problem you can lay at the feet of U. S. citizens. The U. S. is not responsible for Mexico and its poverty. Lack of jobs in Mexico is a Mexican problem that the Mexican government refuses to solve. Furthermore, U. S. elected officials and business men and women should not put the interest of Mexican nationals above the interest of U. S. citizens. It bears repeating that U. S. citizens ought to put patriotism before profits, too.
There are many reasons why Mexico does not have enough jobs for its citizens. Some of these reasons like the historical and cultural differences between the U. S. and Mexico should not be overlooked when we consider why the tide of illegal immigration ought to be held back. When Mexicans come illegally into the U. S. they not only bring their poverty, but a complex of cultural and historical baggage as well.
Instead of questioning why there are no jobs in Mexico, most illegal immigrants just take the easy way out and cross the border. Illegal immigrants from Mexico only have personal ambitions, not national allegiances. If illegal immigrants cared half as much about their own country, as they do about their pocketbooks, then they would stay in Mexico and work for social change there.
Change is needed in Mexican society to increase jobs, but for years nothing has been done to create those jobs. Years ago politicians in both countries knew the numbers of illegal Mexicans in the U. S. would dramatically increase because there were fewer and fewer jobs in Mexico for their growing population. Few politicians did anything, however, to stem this increase or create jobs. Now, the Pew Hispanic Center confirms what we all know. The center claims in a recent report that "Mexicans by far remain the largest group of undocumented migrants at 5.9 million (in the U. S.)."
A year ago it was proposed that if the U. S. government did not do something about illegal immigration, then citizens along the border would take things into their own hands. Now, we see that after April 1st, more than 1,000 volunteer civilian Minutemen, some of them legally armed, will be patrolling the border between Arizona and Mexico. President Bush may refer to the Minutemen as "vigilantes," but face the fact: People will take affairs into their own hands when the government refuses to protect them.
If you had a neighbor that was wasting his money on drink and cards and then sent his many children to your yard to play, and eventually eat and sleep, what would you do? Many would be considerate for a while, but when the children keep coming, you would ask your neighbor to clean up his life and take care of his own children. Failing that, you would resort to more drastic measures. Can we not see Mexico as that irresponsible neighbor, and ask that they get their national house in order? Mexico must stop sending us their problem children, or we ought to build a better fence.
Instead of building a better fence and deporting illegal immigrants, politicians in both the U. S. and Mexico will make those who complain into the problem. Now, the problem will be that we have vigilantes on the border, instead of illegal immigrants. Instead of saying "The borders are wide open, and we have to close them," we will hear official statement after statement about how we must "Let the Border Patrol do their job. Not vigilantes!" Political smoke screens never dissipate, they just move from one bureaucracy to another.
With their heads in the sands of Iraq, few in the Department of Homeland Security can see over the horizon to our wide-open borders and uncontrolled immigration from Mexico. That is a shame, because governments collapse when they worry more about a possible threat from afar than a real crisis at home. Social security is not just getting a check every month from the government, it is also feeling safe at work from an invading army of foreign, low paid workers.
About the Writer: Robert Klein Engler is an adjuct professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago, and a versatile writer of op-ed articles, poetry, and philosophy. His newest book, "A Winter of Words," is available from amazon.com.
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=13840&catcode=13