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WEDNESDAY
WALL |
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Bush: Ask Mexico For Immigration Reciprocity?
by Allan Wall 3/28/07 |
President Bush just passed through Mexico (March
12-14th). His visit was welcomed by
protestors in both Mexico City and Merida, the other
city which he visited. Protestors called Bush a
murderer, burned American flags, and bore anti-Bush banners,
such as the one which read "Bush You Are Not Welcome
in Mexico—Go to Hell ".
How could Mexican protestors possibly be saying such
ugly things about our president?
Bush has been a Mexico booster and illegal immigration defender
since before Day One of his presidency.
Contributor
Allan
Wall
Allan Wall recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. He currently resides in Mexico, where he has lived since 1991. He can be reached via e-mail at allan39@prodigy.net.mx [go to Wall index] |
Bush has constantly lauded Mexican culture and celebrated the Latinization of the United States.
Bush has consistently done all in his power to
frustrate anyone’s attempt to control the border. In
2005, he publicly slandered the Minutemen in the presence of the previous president of Mexico.
So Bush—dubbed “The
Mexichurian Candidate” by my VDARE.COM colleague Brenda Walker— ought to be the most popular American
in Mexico, right?
Absolutely not.
Bush has sold out U.S. sovereignty, but he’s not even
appreciated for it south of the border!
Bush’s visit was the culmination of a major
taxpayer-supported junket to Latin American (Brazil,
Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala as well as Mexico).
Everywhere, he pandered to Latin Americans by promising
to work for a U.S. immigration policy even more open
than what we have now.
The Wall Street Journal theorizes (probably
correctly) that one of Bush’s goals was to use the trip
to pressure Republican legislators to support his latest "immigration reform" proposal:
"President Bush is
using his Latin America tour to kick off a make-or-break
debate over immigration overhaul in the U.S….In an
apparent effort to leverage his political power, at
nearly every stop in this five-nation swing, Mr. Bush
has mentioned the pressure he is getting from Latin
leaders for action on immigration." ( Bush
Trip Theme: Immigration, By John D. McKinnon,
Wall Street Journal, March 13th, 2007)
Here in Mexico, Bush’s trip was the talk of the town.
Even Telecom Tycoon Carlos Slim, at $49 billion, Mexico’s
richest man and the world’s third richest man, felt the need to express
his opinion. At a press conference before Bush’s
arrival, Slim slammed the border fence, calling it "illegal" and "absurd."
Slim also lectured Americans as to how they should
manage their immigration policy:
"What is needed (in the
U.S.) is legal immigration, immigration accords, but not one
just for highly qualified people."
Slim has a lot of gall to say this, in a country
where the minimum wage is $4 a day while he’s worth $49
billion. Even with his enormous fortune and monopolistic business advantages, Slim’s enterprises
only provide jobs for a quarter of a million employees
in Mexico.
But then again, who’s putting pressure on Slim?
Certainly not the Mexican government!
El Universal, Mexico’s paper of record,
prepared for the Bush visit by interviewing Malu
Grajales, an expert on feng shui and Chinese astrology, who analyzed Bush’s face and said
it exhibits political success, envy and stubbornness,
among other qualities. (Envidia,
poder, soledad y mala salud, refleja rostro de Bush, By Claudia Castro, El Universal, March 13th, 2007).
In a statement before Bush’s arrival, President
Calderon made it clear that he would not be subservient
to Bush. No surprise. The number one goal of Mexican foreign policy is not to
be subservient to the United States. .
President Bush, on the other hand, made every effort
to be subservient. Here’s what he had to say in Merida
on March 13:
"My pledge to you and
your government, but more important to the people of Mexico, is I'll work as
hard as I possibly can to pass comprehensive immigration
reform."
So Bush is making "pledges" to the people of
Mexico? How about pledging to Americans that he will preserve, protect and defend the U.S. constitution?
Oops, he already did that. Twice.
As for Calderon, he took another obligatory jab at
the border fence, saying it wouldn’t stop immigration. [Calderon
tells Bush Mexico Needs More Deb Reichmann, ABC
News International, March 13th, 2007]
But the Mexican president also said that
"Mexicans lose in each migrant the best of our people young
people, working people … strong people. We want to
generate jobs for Mexicans here in Mexico. Because that
is the only way to truly solve the migratory issue."
Noble sentiments—but the Presidente has it
backwards. Mass emigration removes Mexico’s incentive to "generate
jobs for Mexicans here in Mexico."
The next day, March 14th, Bush and
Calderon held a joint press conference, before Bush
departed for Washington. Bush’s statement was pure Bush:
… a good migration law
will help both economies and will help the security of
both countries. And the reason I say that is that if
people can come into our country, for example, on a
temporary basis to work, doing jobs Americans aren't
doing, they won't have to sneak across the border. "
(Bush said the same thing in his State of the Union
address: he thinks Mexicans have to sneak across the border so we may as well
let them in anyway).
"And so, Mr. President,
as we discussed, I will work with Congress, members of
both political parties, to pass immigration law that
will enable us to respect the rule of law and, at the
same time, respect humanity in a way that upholds the
values of the United States of America. "[President
Bush and President Calderon Participate in a Joint Press
Availability The White House March 14th, 2007]
Calderon’s declared that "The border should bring
us together and not separate us."
By definition, a border is a separation. But today’s
globalist leaders like Bush and Calderon don’t see it
that way.
Calderon mentioned that he has relatives in the U.S., picking vegetables, and presumably illegal, since he won’t deny that they are.
And Calderon had this to say:
"I am from Michoacan,
and in Michoacan, we have four million people, two
million of these Michoacanos are in the States. We want
them to come back; we want them to find jobs here in
Mexico. We miss them. These are our best people. These
are bold people, they're young, they're strong, they're
talented. They have overcome tremendous adversity, who
are working so that they can come back to their country
someday."
OK, Presidente, if you feel that strongly about your
fellow Michoacanos in the U.S., why not invite them back right now?
Quota Calderon:
"And I want to say that
I am fighting so that instead of having our people cross
the border to find work, we want investments to cross
the border and come over here."
Sounds great. And if George W. Bush really wants to
help Mexico, why doesn’t he promote private investment in Mexico?
Helping Mexicans in Mexico, now that’s a novel
concept.
Bush expends much more energy and political capital
in opening up the border than he does in encouraging
investment in Mexico.
And despite all the talk about "negotiating" a
migratory accord, it's really not a "negotiation" in the traditional sense of the Word. Mexico is never
required to give anything in exchange for open access to
the U.S. for its citizens.
A logical place to start if one was really "negotiating" would be reciprocity for American
living in Mexico (like yours truly).
At the least, the U.S. government could demand the
same rights for Americans in Mexico that Mexico demands for Mexicans in the U.S.
Similarly, the U.S. could demand that Americans be permitted to immigrate to Mexico as freely as
Mexicans are apparently to be allowed to emigrate to the
U.S.
Isn’t turnabout fair play?
Needless to say, here is absolutely no discussion of
immigration reciprocity in Mexico. But our president has
never shown the slightest interest in it either. For
him, it's all about how much we can surrender to the
Mexican government. And, as the Bush example
demonstrates, no matter how much he offers, it's never
enough!
So what’s Bush’s real goal? Is it really to help
Mexico—or to transform the United States of America? CRO
This article was originally published at vdare.com
copyright
2007 Allan Wall
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