January 14, 2004
Memo From Mexico, By
Allan Wall
Mexico Will Never Be Satisfied And Turnabout Will
Never Be Fair Play
Last
week, President Bush announced his reckless
proposal for an amnesty, which of course he
declares
isn’t an amnesty, when in fact
it is.
This is
suicide for his party and his country, of course—if
arguably not for his dynasty. It must be defeated.
But
guess what, concerned American?
Mexican Foreign Minister Derbez was quick to
announce, a scant few hours later, that Bush’s proposal
didn’t go far enough.
According to El Universal:
“The secretary of Foreign
Relations, Luis Ernesto Derbez, affirmed that he cannot
be satisfied with George W. Bush’s proposal to grant
temporary employment (sic) to immigrants...the goal is a
total and complete program that protects those (Mexicans) in
the United States and those who aspire to go there.”
[El
secretario de Relaciones Exteriores, Luis Ernesto Derbez,
aseguró que no puede estar satisfecho con el anuncio del
presidente George W. Bush de otorgar
empleo temporal
a
inmigrantes, toda vez que lo que se busca es obtener un
programa total e integral que proteja a quienes ya se
encuentran en Estados Unidos y a los que pretenden
llegar.]
And
Vicente Fox’s response?
Fox said “Es
más pequeñito de lo que buscamos.”—“It’s
much tinier than what we were looking for .”
(Decepciona
plan de Bush, El Siglo de Torreón, January 8th, 2004)
For the
Mexican government, you see, nothing is enough. And
turnabout is never fair play.
Another
example: Consider this from
Mexican
congressman Antonio Mejía, about
the recently-enacted
U.S. VISIT program, which requires photographing and
fingerprinting foreign visitors to U.S. airports:
“We cannot permit that
Mexican men, women and children be treated like
terrorists...”
(No
podemos permitir que a hombres, mujeres y niños
mexicanos los traten como terroristas...) [Piden
crear “ley espejo” a seguridad de EU, Universal,
January 5th, 2004].
Besides
attracting the ire of Mexican opposition politicians
such as Mejía, U.S.-VISIT has occasioned the displeasure
of Mexican travelers. They have complained that
the operation is inconvenient, or makes them feel nervous or
treats them like criminals.
[Molesta
el fichaje a mexicanos, El Universal,
January 6th, 2004]
Well,
that’s tough. As an American living in Mexico, I was
fingerprinted by the Mexican government a long time ago.
I didn’t
raise a fuss about it.
After
all, doesn’t the Mexican government have the right to
demand that foreigners like me conform with Mexican
immigration law?
Besides,
how inconvenient is US-VISIT? A DHS memo stipulates that
at most, foreign travelers can be detained for only an
hour, even under orange or red terror threat levels! [New
anti-terror program contains hidden loophole, Paul
Sperry, World Net Daily, January 8th,
2004 ]
Another
recently-enacted U.S. policy is also under fire in
Mexico. [U.S.
agents in airport spark ire, Ruth Rodríguez and
Sergio Javier Jiménez, El Universal, January 6th,
2004]
This is
the recent deployment of U.S. agents, including the FBI,
in Mexican airports, with authority over passengers on
flights proceeding to the U.S., and even over the
flights themselves.
The
American agents, based in Mexican airports, review the
passenger lists of U.S. bound flights, including those
of Mexican airlines. The agents have the authority to
interrogate a passenger, and even to forbid his boarding
the flight. They have authority to postpone a flight to
the U.S. They even have authority to call back a flight
that has already departed—as was done recently with
Flight 494 From Mexico City to Los Angeles.
[En manos de
agentes de EU, Vuelos mexicanos, Ruth Rodriguez,
El Universal,
January 6th, 200]
All this
dates back to 2002, when the U.S. and Mexico signed the
“Smart Borders” agreement. This security
arrangement was part of the deal.
Note
that the American agents have no authority over domestic
Mexican flights or international flights to countries
other than the U.S. Only over flights to the U.S.
And yet,
Mexican critics are right—it is a loss of sovereignty.
Mexicans can be very defensive about their sovereignty.
On
January 8th, protesting university students
chanted “Soberanía sí, yanquis no”.
(Sovereignty yes,
Yankees no.) [Protestan
en aeropuerto por revisión de EU, El Siglo de
Torreón, January 8th, 2004.]
My
suggestion: Americans should defend American sovereignty
too.
Consider
what the United States puts up with from Mexico. In the
U.S.A., Mexican consulates issue the matricula
consular to Mexican illegal aliens on U.S.
territory. This is a document which grants de facto
legalization to
Mexican illegal aliens on U.S. territory. How many
American politicians are up in arms over this?
Only a
few brave souls, such
as Tom Tancredo.
Furthermore, Mexican diplomats in the U.S. engage in
activities that go
far beyond legitimate diplomatic duties. They have
successfully meddled in U.S. internal politics. None
has ever been officially reprimanded.
Let’s
admit it—the U.S. is indeed meddling in Mexican
aviation. But Mexico is
meddling in U.S. immigration policy. It is even
claiming jurisdiction over
American citizens of Mexican ancestry.
The very
idea of an immigration accord with Mexico is a massive
affront upon U.S. sovereignty. It would turn U.S.
immigration policy over to the Mexican government, which
has
no intention whatsoever of decreasing emigration to
the United States.
Sometimes Mexican hypocrisy is breath-taking.
Thus the
front page of the January 4th, 2004 edition
of El Siglo de Torreón was emblazoned with the
headline
“Vulnera EU soberanía” – “The US invades
(Mexican) sovereignty.” The article was about the
U.S. agents in the Mexico City airport.
Page 10A
of the same issue, however, contained an article [not
online] entitled “Insiste el Gobierno en pacto
migratorio” – “The [Mexican]
Government Insists on a Migratory Accord.” It
reported the Mexican government’s intention to lobby
strongly to support current immigration measures pending
in the U.S. [!!] Congress. (It was adorned by a
picture of Arizona’s immigration-enthusiast congressman
Jim Kolbe.)
Quite
plainly, Mexican meddling in U.S. immigration
policy is a lot more substantive than American direction
of U.S.-bound flights from Mexico.
But
Mexicans can indulge themselves in this double
standard—because no American “leader” ever
protests.
American citizen Allan Wall lives and works legally in
Mexico, where he holds an FM-2 residency and work
permit, but serves six weeks a year with the Texas Army
National Guard, in a unit composed almost entirely of
Americans of Mexican ancestry. His VDARE.COM articles
are archived
here; his
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM articles are archived
here; his
website is
here. Readers
can contact Allan Wall at
allan39@prodigy.net.mx.
