Mark,

For once, I am in complete agreement with you.
Unfortunately, President Bush is more interested in getting the Hispanic vote, and less interested in our opinions on the subject.

Mike,

I doubt that President Bush is interested in getting anyone's vote these days...and it should be kept in mind that I, like the President, still favor a guest-worker program...but also like the President, I'm coming down harder and harder on strict border enforcement as the precursor to all else in matters immigration.

Rush did this on his show the other day, calling it Limbaugh's Laws of Immigration .. then at the end told us it was actually laws of Mexico. I can imagine the stunned silence around the country. I think all of us bloggers that feel as most of us do about this issue need to post these as much as possible. Remind the people of this country that Mexico is harder on their immigrants than we are on their illegals.

As usual, I am in complete agreement with you. Of course, should we treat them as they are treated by their own government, we would be hounded by calls of racism and bigotry. However it is an excellent suggestion, and one that gets to the heart of the hypocrisy in the Mexican position on illegal immigration in a country that is not their own.

that's what I wanna do...whatever Mexico does.

that'l teach 'em...

The US has always been welcoming to immigrants, as we are a country of immigrants. We've always had more liberal immigration standards than the rest of the world.

I don't think we should judge our immigration policy against that of other countries. I think we should define it and legislate it as Americans see fit.

I wonder if Justice Ginsburg will use this as an shining example of foreign law that should always pre-empt the Constitution?

Tom

Things change. We used to use leaches to cure diseases too. Just because we had liberal immigration policies in the past doesn't mean we blindly keep doing them in the future.

I live in California and the strain on social services, education, crime, etc it mind blowing out here.

The great irony is that many Latinos here that immigrated LEGALLY are ticked off about illegals coming over constantly.

Since adherence to Mexican law is what the new Mayor of LA embraced, as does La Raza and MEChA and other "reconquista" groups, we should accomodate them and adopt the immigration laws of Mexico.

Too bad we don't have any Politicians in D.C. that would!

Tom,

Certainly - but you also know what would happen if even one of these Mexican provisions were to be advocated here in America.

What this demonstrates, conclusively in my view, is that to call people in favor of strict immigration laws "bigots" or what have you is wrong and unfair.

Mexico seems to be a wonderful place.... according to the people who ran to the US from Mexico. Now don't get me wrong, Mexico's nothing like the border towns... but you still have to wonder how these protestors can praise Mexico, "viva la mexico", etc etc when their laws are xenophobic and they just happened to run away from the country. That's like finding a Jew in the 1940's praising Germany.

This simply illustrates the hypocracy of those Mexican and American groups that brand the call for US immigration control as racist bigotry.

Touché Jonathan,

That part of the equation has been sorely missing in our discussion of this issue. The analogy to 1940s Jews praising Germany is a powerful one...

You guys are assuming that Mexicans want the government here in the United States to be like the one they left. They don't. That's why they're so ashamed of it.

As for why they like to wave their flag and say "Viva Mexico" all the time, it's not because they praise their government. Whenever Americans wave the US flag it's not necessarily a support of the current government. It's pride in a culture and lifestyle they've grown up in and a sense of identity which brings them together.

Tom,
In the past, people that came into the country came were legal and adopted English. Now we have an invasion of people that do not have America first, nor do they use English. If I wanted to live in a third world country, I would move there. Having the third world move here does not improve conditions either here or in their country.

It occurs to me that if 12% of Mexico's population want to live in the United States, then we should be entitled to 12% of the land area of Mexico. That would be about 250,000 sq. km of land. Of course that would also add a few more Mexicans, so we might need to take as much as 25% of their total land area to compensate the cost of illegals. Seems fair, let's start pushing for compensation from Mexico.

[blockquote] It's pride in a culture and lifestyle they've grown up in and a sense of identity which brings them together.[/blockquote]

I don't know Alf, maybe for some that's true but it strikes me as going against the idea of wanting to become Americans. Let alone flying the American flag in an insulting manner in compairison to the Mexican one.

As the son of Chinese immigrants I've not really seen any of my family flying the current Chinese flag. The closest Chinese flag we would ever fly is the flag of Taiwan which is more like the old China that was lost when Communism came in. We're Americans now and we like being Americans, why would we fly the Chinese flag?

Seriously, we all know and agree that this country was built by immigrants, but that doesn't mean we need a huge tide of illegal immigrants. Do I think our current immigration system is messed up? Heck yeah! Does that mean I want to reward those who have skipped the process entirely, no. Illegal is still illegal.

For the record, I'm Mexican, so you guys know where I'm coming from. I've always seem something of a sort of jealousy in Mexico for what the USA has and is compare to what they have. It looks like the US is overtaking Mexico on nearly everything. Hell, Mexico's soccer team looks like it will be definitively overtaken by the USA team due to bumbling on Mexico's management. I'm guessing that people like to wave the Mexican flag because its the only thing left of their country that they're still proud of. And I've seen more than a handful of US flags flying at the rallies here where I live in San Diego, so it's not like they hate everything American. It's just frustration with both worlds.

Alf,

Perhaps - but any pride of being Mexican must be confined to Mexico...in America, they must be proud of America; while also, of course, retaining a sense of pride in ancestry. What the demonstrations are showing, however, is that they don't have any pride in America - indeed, that they have nothing but contempt for America, but are still demanding all the benefits of American citizenship.

Now, is this a true picture? Lord only knows - but it is the impression that is given, and I don't think the damage can be repaired, no matter how many American flags they decide to wave now and hereafter.

"Perhaps - but any pride of being Mexican must be confined to Mexico...in America, they must be proud of America"

This is simply not true. Americans of every heritage fly the flags of their homeland in the states. Just ask the southside Irish in Chicago.

Just because they are waving the Mexican flag, doesn't mean they aren't proud of America. To me, it seems many Mexican-Americans feel under siege during all this immigration reform talk. Blood is thicker than water. If it comes down to it and first generation immigrants feel their nationality is under siege, there's going to be a swell of support for that nationality in the US, I don't care what country it is. I don't think it's a slight against the US, since all Americans celebrate their ancestory in one way or another. These are just testy times. And in some cases, flags are getting in the middle of it.

I think this whole deal of flags is way overblown.

Local Governments need to take stern action. The Governors of each state need to take some kind of action to secure their borders; instead of waiting for homeland security which is the Nations overSpending Joke of the decade.

Local Governors could control Illegal Immigrants by enforcing the laws on the books about hiring Illegals. Look if they can't find a job they will go home.

Until we secure our borders; we cannot do anything with Illegal Immigrants. That is the bottom line!

Have you looked at Canada's policies as well? I believe they are very similar. Also, as with the US immigration policy, how many of these laws, especially as they relate to land ownership, are actually "enforced?"

What's the point in the comparison? Focus on the practices of employers, not the workers. Admit that the US economy would significantly fall apart without immigrant workers (top to bottom, by the way). I honestly would love to see all the immigrant workers kicked out of the US--to see the economy go belly-up. Be careful what you wish for....

I honestly would love to see all the immigrant workers kicked out of the US--to see the economy go belly-up. Be careful what you wish for....

Please enlighten us, Mr. White. Why would you like to see our economy go "belly-up?"

Mexico has one of the largest petroleum reserves in the world. 90% of the resources are controlled by 10% of the population.

If all the illegals want is a decent life, why don't we see millions of Mexicans in the streets of Mexico protesting to end the corruption that keeps them poor.

Why don't we see La Raza and the rest of the socialist left wing protesting against this injustice?? Could it be that the Mexican governement, whatever the name political party, opperate under the banner of socialism???

Unfortunely the Bush administration has outsourced the US immigration policy to Mexico. Mexico has control of the illegals flooding accross the border.

"I honestly would love to see all the immigrant workers kicked out of the US--to see the economy go belly-up"...Bill White

Isn't it just like a lefty to wish ill on our country?

Hey moron, illegals make up less than 4% of the work force. If they all went home enmasse it would hardly make a blip in the economy. In fact we could use the $60 Billion per year that they send out of the country.

The only real impact of their departure would be that many lawns would go uncut.

phnx,

There have been protests. There was a huge one with millions awhile ago in Mexico City over the amount of crime in the city. Unfortunately, politicians didn't listen and started blaming each other.

One of many unenforced laws in this country is Section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994; the tresspassing law.

Are Illegals not tresspassing? As soon as they hop the border onto the USA soil, they are on someones private property.

Under the worse Congress and Bush Adminstration in our US History; laws in this country mean nothing. And will not be enforced.