Mexico’s Safety Valve

That would be the Rio Grande. It releases all those unhappy peons from the grinding poverty on their side of the border and then keeps them busy earning a living to send back. That inflow of money helps subdue the resident part of the population, who might otherwise be asking questions a fat and happy Mexican bureacracy would rather not answer. “Let my people go” works for Fox and Co., as long as we also keep them here.

“Show me a politician who is poor and I will show you a poor politician”
— Carlos Hank González *

*A quote from an eye opening paper by George W. Grayson, Class of 1938 Professor of Government at the College of William & Mary. (Noted in a San Diego Union-Tribune article.)
UPDATE: A “do as I say, not as I do” look at how Mexico treats it’s illegals.

As tough as the United States can be for workers who slip in from south of the border, Mexico is in a poor position to criticize. The problem goes far beyond the predatory gantlet of thugs and crooked cops facing defenseless transients like Moisés. There’s ample precedent in Mexico for just about everything the United States is—or isn’t—doing. Calling out the military? Mexicans may hate the new U.S. plan to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops on the border, but five years ago they cheered President Vicente Fox for sending thousands of Mexican soldiers to crack down on their southern frontier. Tougher laws? Hispanic-rights groups are enraged over U.S. efforts to criminalize undocumented aliens—yet since 1974, sneaking into Mexico has been punishable by up to two years in prison. Foot-dragging on amnesty? Fox has spent the past five years urging the United States to upgrade the status of millions of illegals from Mexico. Meanwhile, his own government has given legal status to only 15,000 foreigners without papers.

One Response to “Mexico’s Safety Valve”

1. KG says:

   May 30, 2006 at 6:53 pm

   I’m beginning to think that we shouldn’t be treating Mexico as a full fledged ally.