US-Mexico Relations

If I were born in Mexico I would have most likely crossed the border into the U.S. by now. I can’t blame Mexicans for trying to cross the border at all costs. According to The World Bank, half of Mexico’s population lives in poverty and one-fifth is in extreme poverty. In the U.S. even if you are very poor you still most likely live in better conditions than the majority of the poor in Mexico. For instance, none of our cities have anything like the slums that surround Mexico City. Mexico has problems and it shares a large border with the U.S. So while U.S. foreign policy has been focused on bad governments and assumed threats halfway around the world a storm has been gathering hurricane force right next door and is spilling across onto our side of the border. The result is the current state of illegal immigration. Pat Buchanan calls the situation an Invasion. You have to sensationalize things to sell books. Typically I think of an invasion as being perpetrated by those who have a malicious intent. I don’t think that’s the case here. To restate what I have already said; if I had to choose between poverty and opportunity I would choose to cross the border too.

Recently Mexico elected a new president. But the loser is staging rallies in the street proclaiming to be the legitimate president. And he has supporters. Their economy is bad and their government is corrupt. Our neighbor needs help. By helping our neighbor we would also be helping ourselves. The U.S. needs to take a more active role in directing policy in Mexico if it has any hope of solving the problems. We need to get to the source rather than trying to form plans and policies, such as amnesty, which are simply ill conceived and will not work. U.S. foreign policy needs to focus on working more closely with our close neighbor.