Now, with the US House of Representatives
passing a bill to not only fortify the southern border and add
militarization to the mix (while talking about doing the same thing on the
northern border) and raising illegal entry to a felony we, in fairness,
should look at México first.
México, in fact, has militarized its southern border. And while
complaining about the way Mexican illegals are treated in the US, the
Mexican government admits worse human rights violations against
illegals in México than takes place in the US against Mexicans. Of
course, building a wall on the southern Mexican border presents
enormous problems, but the Mexican army has been quite active down
there for years. But one thing that Mexico does have is a functional
immigration system that has the capacity to properly screen legal
immigrants. That is more than the US has had for a long time. This
kind of takes the edge off of the recent screaming about the US
actions on their southern border. In addition, it is well known that
México systematically encourages the use of the northern "safety
valve" to solve demographic problems that México does not have the
will to do internally. This is not new. In fact, England "exported"
their surplus population to their colonies (and even Ireland)
centuries ago to relieve internal pressures. That is how some of my
own ancestors came to the US.
Also realize that any country will get their hackles up when they
see their neighbor building a fortified wall against them. I can't
wait to see Canada's reaction to a wall on the northern border!
But, in the US, after letting the southern immigration wave
continue unabated and without realistic controls from administration
after administration, there has finally been a reaction. And needless
to say, the reaction is extreme, as it always is when you wait too
long.
President Bush, in his second and final term, has found himself
loosing his political base. And a lot of that loss has been from the
far right side of that base. It would seem he feels that by pandering
to that far right base, he can regain overall support. This, of
course, is as foolish as the opposition Democratic Party pandering to
the far left wing of that party. While promoting the likes of Kerry,
Dean, Edwards, Kennedy and the far-left press we see little traction
from the majority center.
But, in the meantime, Bush is doing the same thing with the far
right in playing to the likes of Sensenbrenner ("Real Identity"),
Tancredo ("send them all back"), Fallwell ("cultural destruction") and
Hannity ("they are all felons"). In this, Bush is joining the
Democrats to align with extremists. This strategy hasn't helped the
Democrats . . . why should it help the Republicans? And on top of
this, while the Republicans have recently picked up votes from the
growing Hispanic (read legal) voters, they can kiss that good-by now.
And since there are a lot more legal voting Hispanics than illegals,
more thought should have been given to this point. It would seem that
both political parties in the US have forgotten the center and more
moderate majority. Or has common sense been entirely forgotten?
What will the next step be? Should we expect to see a Krystal
Nacht to destroy all of the businesses that Mexican immigrants
have founded in the US? Should it be required that all Mexicans have
to wear red, green and white identifications for all to see? And to
keep the Latino population in check, should we consider concentration
camps? All that would be left is for someone will come up with a
Final Solution to put a complete end to the "problem".
Does this sound far fetched? One only has to look back a little
more than a half century to see a very civilized European country
caught up in extremist beliefs to find a group to blame all of their
problems on.
By the way, what does "compassionate conservatism" really mean?
My often-stated belief is and has been that the present
immigration problems can only be solved by both México and the US
working together on the issue. And that includes not only securing the
borders, but to install a realistic immigration control process
including a functional visa system. And that must include recognition
of the contributions to both economies of migrant workers.
But I cannot see the political will necessary for solutions on
either side of the border.
_____________________________________
Richard N. Baldwin T., a HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/)
contributing columnist, lives in Tlalnepantla, Edo de México. E-mail
at:
R1041643422@aol.com
By
Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com