Half of Mexico Ready to Head North
Hispanic Americans, like other Americans, have concerns about the uncontrolled flow of illegal immigrants across the southern border:
A majority of Hispanics born in the United States don’t think illegal Hispanic immigrants should be given drivers’ licenses, according to a new poll.
Some say if we just had a good guest-worker program, that this would stem the tide of the three million illegal immigrants a year coming over the southern border. Well, from the same article linked above:
Almost half of Mexicans, 46 percent, surveyed in May said they would go to the U.S. if they could.
“The desire to migrate is not a phenomenon of the poor and poorly educated,” Suro said. “The inclination to migrate is powerful in the middle class in Mexico, even those with college educations say they would go to the United States if they could.”
If about half of the Mexican population wants to move north, a guest-worker program alone is not going to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. Even if we agreed to a million guest workers a year, another two million would still sneak over the border. An unsecured border is just too inviting.
The solution takes four steps:
1) Secure the southern border using whatever equipment and personnel that are required
2) Penalize employers who hire illegal aliens
3) Deport illegal immigrants (just like with illegal immigrants that came from Asia, Europe, or anywhere else)
4) Pressure Mexico to reform the awful state of their political and economic system so that everyone does not want to head north over the border
Mainstream views are changing in the U.S. regarding illegal immigration. People are more and more fed up with the federal government simply not doing their job. Along the border, property and local services are being overrun and overwhelmed. New Mexico just declared a state of emergency. As far as I can tell the federal government is brain-dead when it comes to this issue.
Meanwhile, the Mexican government cheers on the illegal immigrants because it serves as a safety value to cover for their corruption and incompetence. Not only does it provide frustrated, impoverished Mexicans with jobs - once working in the U.S. they ship $15 billion a year back to Mexican relatives. This further helps the Mexican government cover its sins.
Of course if a terrorist attack was committed by a group that sneaked here over the southern border, then things would change very quickly. It is sad that it would take this to wake the federal government from its stupor.
August 17th, 2005 at 8:18 pm
A big Amen to your point #2. Given the logistical and geological realities of the border, we won’t stop the problem till we shut off the supply of jobs. That’s the magnet that draws most of the illegals here (aside from the free health care, drivers licenses, schools, Medicare, and citizenship for their kids and little things like that). I still think the Republican’s greatest libabilty in 08 is their halfhearted immigration approach. Lots of room for the Dem candidate to run to the right on that one–and it would play awfully well in red states like Arizona.
August 20th, 2005 at 3:13 pm
Good ideas, but number 4 is the killer. None of the other three will matter a damn if Mexico does not reform, but the fact of the matter is that the Mexican elites do not want reform; they have a good thing going and they are not going to let it go just because the gringos are complaining. As long as they can ship Mexico’s discontented, their underemployed, their powerless mestizo and Indian masses north and out of the country the elites will do nothing that mighten loosen their grip on Mexico’s political and economic systems. The Mexican elites know that the border is too long for effective policing for its entire length, and to be truly effective we would have to cover the entire border, not just the hot spot of the week, which would add up to a truly huge amount of money. They also know that the temptation to hire cheap illegal labor is too great for many American industries and that truly effective anti-hiring laws, with the teeth to send those who hire illegals to prison for several years, will in all likelihood be shot down by pressure from the business lobbies, and that deporting all the illegal Mexicans here already is next to impossible. In the current political and economic climate, illegal immigration will not stop just because we want it to; there will have to be, as you quite rightly pointed out, some horrible disaster that will permit the politicians in this country to simply ignore those interests who have a vested interest in keeping the flow of cheap labor from Mexico coming.
August 24th, 2005 at 11:47 pm
[...] ts on the immigration issue are here (from the newest posts to the oldest posts):Leno Joke Half of Mexico Ready to Head North Cheap Manual Labor No Justification for Allowing Illegal Immigration The Illega [...]
September 15th, 2005 at 4:45 pm
talking of aliens ready to head USA. Well I tell that its for real, everything that you guys have sad is truly disaster. But I like to view the issu from a diferent point. Not only mexicans are heading US, but most of latinamerica and poorly countrys from the globe. America has mistaken when try to rule the international economy.USA and Mexico agreed in the lates 80’s on the TLC, but USA goberment don’t want to trade with mexicans industry, but yes!! USA can sell their product to mexico. If mexicans industry don’t trade with US they will go to bankrupt and will led to many people out of jobs.And it already cost $m of pesos to mexico’s economy. And the samething happend with the rest of latinamerica.US gov. Must take a look to it’s back yard as the northamericans call to latinamerica before it gets worst. I don’t know if you guys already hear,but CHINA alredy is seeing Latinamerica as a goald land and started investing, This will weak US economy more then it already is. By the way Bush went for the head of OSAMA BIN LADEN but insted got a hell in IRAQ and inosent people are getting afect. Just think about it.
September 16th, 2005 at 4:13 pm
Ok, you talk about Mexicans going to the US for work and that the US should pressure the Mexican Government to reform the “awful” state in which Mexicans live. But, have you stopped to think about what the US is doing to stop that flow of immigrants? Encouraging people to be the so-called vigilantes and arrest people or even shoot at them does not help. Where are the human rights? Canadians do need a visa to enter the US but Mexico does. Does that seem fair to the third country in the Nafta Agreement? And anyways who is the US to pressure a government? Immigrants in this country do the work that no one else wants to do and not only that but because of these people, you have food on your table too. Yes!!! and this is because immigrants are the support of 2 economies. Not only their country’s but the USA. Anyways, because of immigrants, the USA was formed. Were not the Irish, Italian, Scottish and English immigrants 250 years ago? Was not this land a land that belonged to Indians? Was not half of the US part of Mexico? Why do you care sooooo much for Mexicans when you should be worrying about what your president does to other people in their own country…
September 16th, 2005 at 7:13 pm
PROUTOBEFRANCOMEXICAN,
First, I am not anti-Mexican. We have neighbors and friends of Mexican descent. I work daily with people of Mexican descent that I like and respect. Some of my daughter’s best friends are of Mexican descent. I could go on.
And I don’t have a problem with having Mexican legal immigrants just like I don’t have a problem with legal immigrants for other countries.
My problems is that 3 million people per year sneak illegally over the Mexican border. Once here, they are hidden from the law, work illegally for employers, and take jobs away from American citizens. All nations should live under the “rule of law”. If we ignore this, laws become a joke.
It is not true that the U.S. is dependent on Mexican workers. The law of supply and demand says that if there are less workers available, employers will just have to bid for the services of the remaining workers. The work will still get done, just by American citizens making somewhat higher wages.
Regarding the Canadian border, the U.S. does not have the same problems with illegal immigration because incomes in Canada are similar to the U.S. If the incomes were very different, I am sure that the same problems of illegal immigration would exist.
Regarding the vigilantes, I disagree that they are even vigilantes. They are volunteers that monitor the border and then call for the authorities if an arrest is needed. There is nothing wrong with community groups watching out for crime. We have them in U.S. cities. So if we can use organized citizens to watch out for criminals in U.S. cities, why can’t they watch out for people illegally sneaking into the U.S.?
September 24th, 2005 at 10:28 pm
I lived for some years in your country, and I was very pleased to live there and, I am very sure there are lots of things that you can be proud of. After some years, I decided to come back to Mexico, I will never forget the good experiences I had there, and the learning of the good things. Some of the points that you list here, we have heard over and over.
A very important point is that in order to solve a situation that alarms you, you can’t be mild in terms of actions. What is the people that worries about 3 million of immigrants crossing over the Mexico-U.S. border willing to do to stop the problem? shoot the mexicans down? not hire them anymore despite of the cheap labor? deny human rights? stop the issueing of dirving licenses? deny medical services? deny US citizenship of their sons and daughters?, prevent they go out of their homes after 10 p.m.? rise a 5 meter high electrified wall? have a new version of concentration camps to keep them while they are deported and have them perform some labor to cover for the financial burden thereof?.
Somehow, they keep crossing the border and they keep getting jobs. Money sent to mexico surpassed the tourism income, only oil income is on top of this concept in the mexican economy.
Who is the people benefited from immigration besides the mexicans? There are interests at a certain scale that are benefited from this massive immigration. Mexican government is not the only one that overlooks “irregularities” when it comes to benefit people other than the immigrants. Cheap labor is not something that is new to Americans, ask the black American Community.
But then again, what is the average american willing to do to stop the immigration? We all must be concern about it for the sake of the immigrant itself if we have a human side.
Immigrants are not criminals do not be so narrow sighted. Law is the law and I am a law abiding person, I wish people in need had a bit of clarity and dignity in their heads before they decide to cross the border in an illegal manner, we face a problem that needs treatment and, legal and economic structures in your and my country have proven not to be efficient in handling this issue, you keep thinking immigrants are criminals, and very soon you will be glad mexicans are being shot with real bullets over our border.
September 24th, 2005 at 11:26 pm
Cesar,
You say “very soon you will be glad Mexicans are being shot with real bullets over our border”. All I can say is that you are very wrong here. I have no gut hostility to Mexicans. I see them building houses and building the roads near my home and they work very hard. I do not get angry seeing individual Mexicans, whether legal or illegal, working here in America.
I do not want people brutalized. In fact, if the U.S. southern border was secured, many less would die trying to sneak over. A secure border is more humane in this regard.
My concern is in the big picture. You are basically arguing that it is okay for people to sneak into the U.S. and we should just accept it. So why can’t people then begin arriving on ships and planes from all over the world? Why not people from everywhere? Since 3 billion people live on less than $2 per day, why not let them all come? Most of these people are poorer than the poor in Mexico.
You are right that there are people in the U.S. that like the millions of people sneaking into this country. Many American corporations and small business owners like it because they can hire Hispanics for lower wages than Americans will work for.
You mention black Americans getting low wages. You are right and they are made even lower by having to compete with jobs with illegal immigrants. That is very unfair to black Americans.
You say, “Immigrants are not criminals do not be so narrow sighted.” I know that many illegal immigrants in the U.S. are decent and hardworking people. However, because of this I cannot just say, well we should just leave the borders open so that millions of people can come here when they feel like it.
April 12th, 2006 at 5:14 am
The problem of huge movements of illegal immigrants will never be solved by piecemeal solutions. It is time for statesmen in Mexico, USA and Canada to consider a North American Federation composed of these mentioned nations. This federation would provide for a free movement of goods, people, services and capital to best exploit the substantial resources available mostly in Mexico and possibly some in Canada and the US. The established federation would move to establish some gradual uniformity of wages and salaries in the federation that would also stabilize the now huge movement of illegals which will also be largely halted by the establshment of new industries with these anticipated exploitations. One should look to the European Union for some ideas to implement in a North American Federation.
April 12th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
Anthony Della Selva,
Compared to the EU, Mexico and the US have a huge divergence in average income of workers. And the lowest paid workers in Mexico are very poor. A massive influx would occur and take even more jobs of Americans.
So until Mexico achieves near the standard of living with the US, this is impossible.
April 13th, 2006 at 4:53 am
In a federation of North America composed of Mexico, US and Canada it would be of prime importance to establish federally mandated minimum wage policy that would be the same in each of the countries or possibly graduated in the instance of Mexico. This would serve to deter the radical movement of Mexican labor to the US and Canada.
April 13th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
In general, I don’t like minimum wage laws because they artifically push up wages for low-skill workers above the market rate. So the poorest workers can’t use their one competitive advantage in the marketplace - their ability to work for somewhat lower wages. Thus the first rung of the ladder is greased for those trying to pull themselves up economically. They can’t compete with others who may be a little smarter or who have gone to better schools.
Even if minimum wage was put in place over all of North America, American workers would still suffer by all of the new competition for jobs from Mexican workers. If I was a low-skill, low-income American worker, I sure would not want this new competition.
So what you are proposing is an interesting thought experiment, but I would have a difficult time supporting this as real policies.
April 18th, 2006 at 6:26 am
The American low skilled worker is already getting that unwanted competition from the huge flow of illegals coming from Mexico. A minimum wage law mandated in a North American Federation would serve to give the American employer the preference of employing the low skilled American worker. Moreover, the Mexican economy would flourish with the free exchange of capital that would exploit their substantial resources that presently are the preserve of Mexicans only and in the case of the oil industry their government. Obviously, the mandates must be obeyed or the whole idea is worthless.