By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com
Escape

      I get a sense of these people. Sometimes they come up to me, knowing that I am an English speaker; they want to "practice English".

     Sometimes I know them, and sometimes not. But in most cases, these are people getting ready to make the trip to "the North". There is an aura about them that can be summed up in one word: frustration. Nine times out of ten the motivation is to be able to work at a job that they will get paid by their effort. To perform in a system that recognizes and rewards hard work. To be able to make a living wage to support themselves and/or their families.

     And sometimes it is something else. Like being able to live in an area that is not a war zone. Somewhere that there is an effort by the government to promote public safety and with a working legal system. And these people, regardless of now much they love México, feel that they can't find these things in México. Probably for good reason.

     This came to mind the other day when my friend at the local super market introduced me to another man by explaining that I speak English. Yes, he wanted to "practice English". Yes, he was getting ready to leave México, this time for good.

   He had worked a number of times in the US, mostly in western states, in mainly construction work. He saved his money and later went back to his family in México. But this time he was going to Canada, not the US. The increased difficulty to cross the southern US border along with the increased price of the "coyotes". And the difficulty of being able to work temporarily in a legal manner and not be subject to victimization by all kinds of corruption made him think of going somewhere else.

     The tipping point to make his decision happened the day before we met. His best friend had been shot and killed in a robbery. This was not a drug related crime. Just one more robbery that takes place daily in the lower class neighborhoods. One more case that will be unsolved and as if the police even care.

     Of course, if you live in one of the spreading drug war zones, there is the danger of getting hit by stray bullets. But in those cases, the drug people are mainly killing themselves along with the police. Of course, corruption plays a big part in all of this.

     The other day, another man told me that his employer had sent him to the downtown area to purchase a change of identity. Why his employer wanted a change of identity I don't know, but I am sure that it wasn't legal.

     There is an area in the central square called the Zócalo that is surrounded by the seat of the federal and city governments and the national cathedral. Off to the side, there are people on the sidewalk with typewriters that can supply identity on demand for a fee. The product is on "official" stationery and the forms are supplied over official government seals. Who do you want to be? What name do you want for your wife (whether you have on or not)? What address do you want? But what amazed the man sent to buy the identity was that there were the city police, walking back and forth and keeping order for this nefarious enterprise. All right in plain view right under the nose of the government.

     And we wonder why Mexicans escape México?

     Looking at the other side of the equation, I was fascinated by the wild, almost coming to blows, exchange on the Fox O'Reilly Factor between Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera. This covered opinions on a sad event in which a drunken driver (with a history of drunk driving arrests) killed two young ladies. He was still driving thanks to a judge who gave him a pass despite his DUI history. And it turned out that the drunk was an illegal immigrant from México.

     O'Reilly's position was that this was totally due to lax border enforcement. Rivera's position was that this was a drunk driver issue. What both missed in their passion was that the drunk driver, even with a history of DUI, was given a pass by an inept judge. On top of that, the ICE was not informed of the presence of the illegal DUI. But according to local police, when they do try to inform the immigration people, they won't respond unless it is a felony case. I have seen this personally in the US.

     It comes down to both local and federal systems not enforcing the existing laws.

     But I commend the Factor for a very lively "discussion" and with both views on a controversial subject.
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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