The Job Americans Won't Do and Why Mexico Must Help
June 17, 2006
It is very clear that passing any immigration plan is a job Americans won’t do – at least alone.
Americans are split on what and what not to do about illegal immigration.
Any compromise between the House and Senate plans still leaves one important part out: Why Mexico must help.
America needs an immigration pact, not a plan.
More than half the illegal immigrants in the U.S. today originated from Mexico.
Illegal immigration, especially from Mexico, is not just a domestic issue anymore. It is also a bilateral issue: signing a bilateral immigration pact with Mexico strengthens any comprehensive immigration plan assembled by the House and Senate.
The House will not move an inch until the border is secure. But building barrier fences is not the first step. Instead, the first step is finally accepting Mexico’s help.
Days before September 11th, a joint Mexican and U.S. cabinet met in Washington to discuss bilateral issues. One issue was migrating Mexicans, and the other, border security.
Yet the U.S. government has been sitting on its hands hoping somehow illegal immigration ceases from Mexico while community and state government have been scrambling to contain illegal immigration.
These days for Americans, illegal immigration is indeed a colorfully debatable topic, but the average American only sees, not travels the maze of endless immigration barriers and hurdles for applying legally.
For example, Mexicans live the reality of broken borders, lax enforcement at the border and for employment decisions, and the inefficient, overburdened applicant immigration system. Within the immigrant community, it's not difficult to find a handful of stories from friends or relatives who have benefited by escaping the law.
Meanwhile, as the stories become more abundant of bypassing laws, America fumbles to brainstorm a workable solution for ending illegal immigration.
Any immigration plan from the House and Senate will take several years to rollout and several more years to see why the plan did not hold any credence without Mexico’s help.
Believe it or not, migration is also an exhausting problem for Mexico when half the town leaves for the United States.
In 2000, Mexican President Vincente Fox campaigned on bilateral issues throughout Mexico and the United States. Fox won the election by courting support by Mexicans everywhere.
He envisioned for Mexicans to have the ability to participate in Mexican politics back home, and with their help, Fox ended a 71-year old, one party political system.
Fox was ready for bilateral reform and America was not.
Once elected, Fox fired 45 of 47 custom supervisors in February 2001. However, without any immigration pact between the United States and Mexico, the border gets trampled.
The U.S./Mexican border has two sides, so offering a U.S. cure on stemming illegal immigration alone is a risky policy and will not hold without a pact with Mexico.
Mexico is the heart of the illegal immigration, and without Mexico's helpful insight, there's no foreseeable middle ground between the House and Senate bills.
Fox has advocated for a more efficient U.S. immigration system since he was elected. Throughout his presidency, which finishes Nov. 30, 2006, Fox was lambasted for dictating U.S. immigration policy to the United States.
For migrants, making the border more difficult to cross only emboldens the American Dream. Like it or not, it's a migrant's test of bravery, endurance, and endless determination to pursue the journey northward.
Encouraging the flow of Mexicans to legally enter, live, and work in the U.S. is the job Americans won't do - even with its constructible and enforceable policies - and that’s why Mexico must help.
In border communities, thousands of Mexicans legally cross the border each day to shop and visit family members.
Border crossers should be processed in a timely fashion. Travelers will already hold traveling documents to clear immigration officials.
In fact, many of today’s illegal immigrants arrived legally and didn’t even cross the border. Instead, they arrived by plane and some chose to overstay their visas in fear of not having the opportunity to periodically return.
A path for U.S. citizenship is not desired by all. Indeed, immigrants waving the American flag do want to become U.S. citizens and have the chance to succeed in America while others do not. In either case, identity encrypted legal documents to travel and reside between countries are what all people want.
Understanding how immigrants travel is painless compared to uprooting millions of people.
Signing a bilateral immigration pact with Mexico is the only immigration bill Americans should support.
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Source: www.usmex-unopact.com
