El Pre$idente
Mexican President Calderon neglected to tell Congress that his country regularly asks immigrants for their papers and deports illegal immigrants all the time. More to the point, the deeper darker secret in all of this isn't much of a secret at all. We just have notoriously short memories as a culture. Think back to the early years of this last decade. 2001, to be exact. Then Mexican president Vicente Fox came to America and read us the riot act for wanting to crack down on illegal immigration. The only reason that campaign ended when it did was the next day (or week) we were struck in the single deadliest terrorist attack on US soil by a group of illegal immigrants who were here on expired visas. After 9/11/01, Fox was decidedly silent on the issue for the remainder of his term.
What a lot of people have likely forgotten is just how much money illegal immigrants send back to their home nations. Back during Señor Fox's visit in 2001 the number was estimated to be about $13,000,000,000 annually. $13B is obviously shorter to type, but in a time when "billions" and "trillions" being bandied about recklessly in bailouts and slush funds, it's worth reminding people just how much a billion really is. $13B a year being sent into Mexico alone meant that remunerations from their "expatriate" community was, in fact, one of Mexico's biggest sources of income.
Like any great policy debate, the surest way to understand Mexico's position on our treatment of their citizens here in violation of our immigration laws is to follow the money. The single greatest reason Mexico would encourage us to not enforce our existing laws on illegal immigration much less enhance that system is because his country needs to be able to export its poorest citizens to ours, and to have those exported nationals send money back to their home country.
What a lot of people have likely forgotten is just how much money illegal immigrants send back to their home nations. Back during Señor Fox's visit in 2001 the number was estimated to be about $13,000,000,000 annually. $13B is obviously shorter to type, but in a time when "billions" and "trillions" being bandied about recklessly in bailouts and slush funds, it's worth reminding people just how much a billion really is. $13B a year being sent into Mexico alone meant that remunerations from their "expatriate" community was, in fact, one of Mexico's biggest sources of income.
Like any great policy debate, the surest way to understand Mexico's position on our treatment of their citizens here in violation of our immigration laws is to follow the money. The single greatest reason Mexico would encourage us to not enforce our existing laws on illegal immigration much less enhance that system is because his country needs to be able to export its poorest citizens to ours, and to have those exported nationals send money back to their home country.