Up to now I haven't been able to muster much interest in the issue of illegal immigration. Today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) carries an editorial column by Victor Davis Hanson that changes my viewpoint somewhat.
SELMA, Calif. -- "Shameful," screams Mexico's President Vicente Fox, about the proposed extension of a security fence along the southern border of the U.S. "Stupid! Underhanded! Xenophobic!" bellowed his Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez, warning: "Mexico is not going to bear, it is not going to permit, and it will not allow a stupid thing like this wall."
The allusions to the Berlin Wall made by aggrieved Mexican politicians miss the irony: The communists tried to keep their own people in, not illegal aliens out. More embarrassing still, the comparison boomerangs on Mexico, since it, and not the U.S., most resembles East Germany in alienating its own citizens to the point that they flee at any cost. If anything might be termed stupid, underhanded or xenophobic in the illegal immigration debacle, it is the conduct of the Mexican government.
"Stupid" characterizes a government that sits atop vast mineral and petroleum reserves, enjoys a long coastline, temperate climate, rich agricultural plains -- and either cannot or will not make the necessary political and economic reforms to feed and house its own people. The election of Vicente Fox, Nafta and cosmetic changes in banking and jurisprudence have not stopped the corruption or stemmed the exodus of millions of Mexicans.
If stricter enforcement of our immigration laws will help to create pressure for the kind of reform that will get Mexico's political house in order, then I'm for it. Mexico is a beautiful country with wonderful people. How pathetic that through corruption and ineptitude the Mexican government drives them north across the border for their opportunities to make a living.
Comments