 |
|
|
 Editorials | Opinions | June 2007 
What They Don't Ask and Don't Tell About Illegal Immigration
 Grant Perry - huffingtonpost.com
| | 'We Have a Problem. To Build an Anti-Immigrant Wall, We Need to Hire 1,000 Illegals.' [La Jornada, Mexico] |
Senate debate on the revived immigration bill could start as early as next week. A major reason for the bill's revival is the Republican-backed amendment providing another $4.4 billion for border surveillance and workplace enforcement. It's clear that negotiations on the bill are moving one way only: toward tougher measures to keep out the Mexicans.
So now we're about to enter another round of bellowing about border security. But amid all the shouting, you can bet we won't hear much honest discussion about why so many Mexicans are willing the take the considerable risk of crossing the border illegally.
Yes, people on all sides of the immigration controversy blithely will acknowledge that Mexicans come to America "in search of a better life" or to "make money and send it home" or because "everyone wants to come to America." Our leaders, so quick to render harsh judgments of illegal immigrants and so snappy with simplistic solutions, won't go beyond those bromides. And if they actually know any of the real factors driving the mass migration from Mexico, they won't tell.
Of course, accountability is not one of the US Senate's strong suits. If it were, maybe some of the senators who voted for NAFTA would acknowledge that they themselves are partly responsible for the "need" to build a wall on the southern US border. Whether or not one believes the net effect of NAFTA has been positive, two facts are beyond dispute. One is that up to two million Mexican farmers lost their jobs because of NAFTA, which cut support for Mexican farms and allowed subsidized US agribusiness unfettered access to the Mexican market.
Many of the Mexicans driven out of farming, most of them subsistence corn farmers, looked for factory jobs. But, and this is fact number two, NAFTA has not produced as many of those Mexican jobs as was predicted by its proponents. So guess what happened? Desperate Mexicans, having lost their small farms, headed north. Funny - it's another complex problem being addressed by sound bites and fear-mongering. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us