March 23, 2005

Moi? Anti-Mexican?

Oh goody, goody gumdrops…President Vicente Fox of Mexico is here!

Along with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin (whoever he is) Fox and President Bush have just concluded yet another summit meeting in Texas. (Tex-Ass in Bush-speak.)

Time just flies when you’re having fun. It seems like only yesterday that Fox was chastising and berating Americans…

Oh wait, that was yesterday.

In a powerful Washington Times editorial today, Insults From south of the Border, Fox was quoted criticizing the wall currently under construction along the San Diego portion of the U.S./Mexico border:

"No country that is proud of itself should build walls . . . We are convinced that walls don't work."

The fence should be razed, he said. (At first I thought he said raised. Yeah, not so much.)

Strangely enough I agree with Fox. Walls do not seem to work—due to the near expert-level climbing skills of his people.

Guess what else? President Fox doesn’t like the Minuteman Project.

1000 volunteers are legally and peacefully gathering to assist border patrol agents in their efforts to detain and deport illegal aliens next month.

At VDARE.COM, we like to think of them as undocumented Border Patrol agents.

But in a press statement, President Bush agreed with Fox's criticism of citizen groups that seek to catch and detain illegal immigrants entering the United States. In fact, Bush called them vigilantes.

"I'm against vigilantes," Bush said. "That's why you got a border patrol, and they ought to be in charge of enforcing the border."

And Fox is not happy about them (surprise). He says:

"We will use the law; international law and even U.S. law to make sure that these types of groups . . . will not have any opportunity to progress."

I guess somebody should utilize the laws which pertain to immigration enforcement—because we certainly do not.

According to a few of my more colorful emails from readers, I hate Mexico and its inhabitants.

Poppycock, of course. (I just wanted to say poppycock.) Aside from the food poisoning and crooked cops who extort money from me at gunpoint, I have always enjoyed visiting Mexico.

And, apart from the 8 million illegal Mexicans (15 million if D.A. King is right) living in my country and—for example—sucking the life out of the public education system, thereby rendering it sub-standard for American children, I would argue that I like Mexicans far more than I do, say, the French.

I mean, if I had to choose…

But I did read through some of my old columns looking for examples of my hatred, perceived or otherwise, and I found no evidence of such.

Alright, I did suggest that we merge National Crime Prevention Month with National Hispanic Heritage Awareness Month to form National Hispanic Crime Prevention Month.

But a racist implication can hardly be drawn from that…right? Look, take out Hispanic and insert Black, White, Asian etc…it all works for me.

I am an equal opportunity offender, as it were.

However, I admit that I am particularly tough on Hispanics when it comes to issues of immigration and multiculturalism. But that is due largely in part to their (especially the Mexican government's) unique and hubristic attitude that somehow we owe them.

Speaking of what we owe whom, this morning HispanicBusiness.com offered its analysis of what should be discussed at the summit meeting.

All the planets are aligned or something, but I agree:

“Because U.S. business benefits from the cheap labor its southern neighbor provides—and because many of those laborers have a better life here and send an estimated $14 billion back home annually—there is ample incentive for both governments to ignore a leaky border.”

HispanicBusiness.com went on to add:

“But the equation is changing, particularly for border states facing the burgeoning costs of illegal immigration. The backlash creates legislation like California's Proposition 187 of 1995 and Arizona's Proposition 200 of last year, both of which sought to stem the tide by restricting public services to illegal immigrants.”

Aint that the truth?

HispanicBusiness.com sees amnesty deals and guest worker programs as the solution.

W-R-O-N-G! We tried that already—a couple of times. And today we have more illegal aliens than ever living illegally in the U.S.

Here is a thought: If this is a summit meeting, what is Fox bringing to the table?

My favorite commentary so far is from Wesley Pruden, Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Times:

“Human flesh has become Mexico's No. 1 export. Mr. Fox wants an open border to enable desperate Mexicans, eager to pursue the dream of a better life and who have given up on their native land, to disappear into America. This is pretty much how it is already, but Mr. Fox wants to erase it officially.”

Warning to Mexico: the MSM is getting VDARE.COM’s message.

My suggestion to Señor Fox: tone down the arrogance.

Case in point: Fox thinks he knows how to fix the American Social Security system.

Talk about killing two birds with one stone. His idea for saving it just happens to include the mass evacuation of his entire poor and unemployed constituency.

Mexico is a Third World country so I think it is safe to call Fox’s ideas ambitious. Richard Simmons giving tips on how to look masculine in a leotard carries more credibility.

U.S. needs to watch extremists, Fox says by Chris Hawley
AzCentral.com Republic Mexico City Bureau

“Fox said he will push for action on a "guest worker" program in the United States. He said that the U.S. population is aging and will need Mexican labor in the future and that turning millions of undocumented Mexicans into legal, taxpaying workers could help keep the Social Security system afloat.”

Hmm…Fox is also lobbying to allow Mexican nationals abroad to vote in Mexican elections.

How convenient.

Our government has failed to secure our border with Mexico. Incredibly, some of our border patrol agents have been sent to Iraq to, I guess, secure Iraq’s borders. We have an illegal immigrant population growing at a rate of 500,000 a year, net. What should we do?

President Fox offers no solutions. But even HispanicBusiness.com sees the forest through the trees.

It offers this (gentle) warning for the Bush administration. If the system is not fixed, “the growing population of illegal immigrants will only prompt more anti-immigration legislation and popular resentment.”

Again, HispanicBusiness.com is right on the money.

Maybe my impatience with illegal immigration does seem like venom in some of my columns.

But it isn’t the Mexican illegal aliens that provoke my ire.

It is the American government that does nothing to solve the problem of illegal immigration for any of us—citizens, immigrants or Mexicans entrapped in this moral hazard.

Bryanna Bevens [email her] is a political consultant and former chief of staff for a member of the California State Assembly.