Candy Cane has posted an interesting comment. We've moved the responsibility to employers, yet the illegal immigrants are one step ahead: they have devised fake SSN that fool even the SSN administration!
So, what do we do? Just open up the borders and give up?
Although it would be a nice thought -- to get rid of borders and let human beings travel and live freely without any documentation or license -- we can't do that.
Why not?
Well, taxes for one -- the people who live here legally pay taxes
Terrorism also -- this is not just new to the 21st century -- unfortunately humans have decided that they want to kill one another -- innocent civilians as well -- so we have to monitor who comes in and goes out of our countries.
Maybe the whole focus is wrong? Yes we can build "fortress America" only to a certain extent -- what about pressure on the countries where all these illegal immigrants are coming from?
Although it is a charming thought -- not every illegal immigrant wants to come to America because they love it and what it stands for -- it's for the opporutnities, the rights and the freedoms afforded to them.
So, maybe the "developed countries" should put pressure on offending countries to offer more rights, freedoms and opportunities to their own people -- maybe then -- illegal immigrants will not be so willing to leave their countries.
After all, these individuals that Candy Cane is talking about, are looking for jobs -- they WANT to work -- so how do we make jobs for them in their own countries?
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Ok I can buy that. Pressure on these countries from the US isn't a bad idea, but how about those Mexicans who felt free to protest on our streets protest on their own.
Rather than picketing, and exhibiting strength in numbers, and making demands on the streets of America, why don't they do these things on the streets of Mexico and demand an end to the coruption within Mexico's government that makes everyone want to leave in the first place? I'm not trying to knock Mexican people, I'm seriousely wondering why this isn't being done.
When you think about it Mexico has many resources, natural and otherwise. They have a substantial amount of crude oil, A strong tourist industry, Many popular exports, American auto production plants and plenty I'm sure that I'm not aware of but the profits from these resources don't make it past the few fat cats at the top of todem pole. These money grubers know of the suffering going on in their streets and should be held accountable for their greed. The fact that this has been the Mexican way for so long is no excuse to allow it to continue.
The Mexican government encourages Illeagle border crossing to keep the attention away from them. They just point their finger at America saying "shame on your racist ways for not letting our poor hard working people into your country" as if they're standing up for their people. If the Mexican people won't make their government accountable for their crimes against humanity then maybe the US will have to as it's becoming a seriouse problem to America.
Don't you think that it is interesting that you don't have a lot of Canadians protesting on the streets of the US demanding fairer immigration?
Is this because Canadians are treated differently (not really under NAFTA) or because they don't have the same "need" to come to the US for jobs, freedom and rights?
Or perhaps it’s because Canadians don’t often express much of an opinion Eh? Why did the Canadian cross the road? To get to the middle Eh!
After spending three and a half weeks in Mexico this summer, studying Mexican history, culture and politics, let me offrer a few insights...
1.) The first problem I see here is NAFTA. One of the campaign promises of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (leftist presidential candidate, July 2006) was to revise this treaty of free commerce. This treaty was set up so that the advantages are most numerous for the US and Canada. An example of this is farming. THe US subsidizes their farmers in order to lower the cost of food. An example of this is corn. Corn is also a plentiful crop in Mexico. Because the farmers are not subsidized by the Mexican government, it is actually cheaper for Mexicans to buy corn which has been shipped from the United States than to buy corn which was grown domestically. There are numerous other programs which emphasize the inequalities evident in the treaty.
I feel that the United States is making a drastic mistake in arming the borders. Each day, millions of dollars are spend on security in this region. If the United States government were to truely care about the betterment of Mexican lives, they could take this money and invest, thus creating jobs for the ever growning unemployed.
As for the political corruption which is present in Mexico...
As a foreigner, I had an extremely hard time comprehending Mexican political attitudes. I was fortunate enough to be an official observer of the Mexican elections, and yes, I saw fraud at each casilla (voting booth.) The issue of fraud is so entrenched in Mexican culture and political thought that many Mexicans cannot possibly concieve of an accountable bureaucracy. Thus the Mexican people have learned to manipulate the system to fulfill their own ends. An example of this can be seen in the voting fraud which was rappant in the 2006 elections. Political parties bought many votes from people. They would offer gifts such as cell phones, money, houses or hot water heaters in exchange. For many poor Mexicans, the government has never had a presence in their lives. It has never helped them in any way and for this reason, they feel that their vote is dispensible. They are very willing to recieve bribes because it is the least they can achieve through the voting process.
In conclusion, I see alot of the worker/immigrant related issues as a function of the corruption in Mexican government. The recent elections were extremely close, and the final count had to be ruled upon by a panel of judges. This implied that the country is severly divided on many issues including economic(NAFTA) issues and US relations. Felipe Calderon (president elect) has come from a party which is expert at courting the interests of President Bush. In the future it is likely that he will sacrifice national interests to gain US favor. Thus, I think that it is up to the US government to pressure Mexico to reform its government and increase transparency. Honestly, I don't see this happening in a long time, because NAFTAs inequalities allow Americans to buy plentiful goods cheap.
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