By Craig A. Deare –

The Washington Times

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I love Mexicans. Really. My first real kiss was with a Mexican girl – ah, Sofia. And my first … well, you get the idea. My best friend in the world is my Mexican high school classmate. You see, I grew up in Guadalajara, the son of an Air Force officer who retired south of the border. I was an immigrant – a legal one, I hasten to add. I understand Mexico and Mexicans. I say all this upfront to emphasize that my opposition to illegal immigration is not because of any anti-Mexican bias.

Let’s recognize that there is no real point in blaming ordinary Mexican citizens for heading north. Where are they supposed to go if there are no jobs to be had in Mexico? Guatemala? Belize? Cuba? Of course, they go to the States. That’s the one country in the region with an economy capable – in normal circumstances, at any rate – of absorbing a significant amount of excess labor from external sources.

Is this situation the fault of the U.S. economy for being able to generate jobs? No. And here is where the ugly and inconvenient truth arises: Mexico’s economic system is – and has been for the past 20 years or so – incapable of creating employment opportunities sufficient to keep pace with its growing population. With Mexico’s current demographics, the Mexican economy needs to generate approximately 1 million jobs per year just to keep pace.

So why has the Mexican economy been unable to generate sufficient jobs for its people? Far be it from me – I am not an economist by training – to attempt to answer such a simple but profoundly complex question. But the proverbial bottom line is that Mexican society, to date, has been unable do so. The reasons involve politics, culture, religion, history, ideology and geography – among other factors.

Although most of the attention paid to Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s speech to the joint session of Congress in May had to do with his condemnation of Arizona’s new immigration law (you gotta give him credit for guts, and it played well back home) and drug-related violence (he was spot-on here, correctly citing the high rates of U.S. consumption), he himself admitted his country’s failure: “I’m not a president who likes to see Mexicans leave our country, leaving for opportunities abroad. … Mexico will one day be a country where our people will find the opportunities that today they look for outside of the country.”

This is the crux of the matter. The 12 million illegal aliens from Mexico (“undocumented workers” – now that’s clever) are testament to Mexican political and economic leaders’ collective failure to organize a system capable of creating sufficient employment for their own citizens – despite being next door to the world’s largest market. So, successive Mexican presidents have relied on the safety valve of a permissive – even if illegal – environment in which to export their unemployment burden. That may be creative thinking, but it’s not much of an economic policy. And let’s not even mention the billions of dollars in remittances sent back to Mexico, the No. 2 or No. 3 source of legal income production in Mexico after petroleum extraction and tourism. The ultimate piece of chutzpah? The government of Mexico filed a brief in support of the American Civil Liberties Union’s (among others) lawsuit that succeeded in a federal court ruling Wednesday in blocking portions of Arizona’s new law. What is absolutely over the top is that Mexican foreign policy is rooted in the principles of sovereignty and nonintervention. The hypocrisy is so outrageous it leaves one breathless.

Another factor also bears upon the problem. Although I do love Mexicans – I believe they are the most gracious and hospitable people in the world – they have grown up in an environment and a society that encourage and reward those who break the law, stoically enduring a nonfunctioning system of justice. Corruption is largely an accepted and recognized way of life. Why should they pay attention to a border if they don’t pay attention to other rules and regulations? Mexican authorities of all shapes and sizes have reinforced, in the minds of ordinary Mexican citizens, reasons not to follow the law. Why wouldn’t they pay a bribe to get past the authorities?

We’re all for immigration – it just has to be done properly, formally and legally. I’m fortunate to be married to a beautiful and loving woman who was born in Argentina, immigrated legally, went through the process and is now a U.S. citizen. As former Ambassador Jose Sorzano has emphasized time and again, Americans are all for those wanting to get in – just wait your turn in line.

Is the immigration system in need of reform and improvement? Absolutely. If the immigrant arrived illegally and truly desires to be a citizen, he A) doesn’t get to join the legal-immigrant-aspirant line but rather enters an illegal-immigrant line and B) pays a fine of $10 per day from the date of his arrival. Breaking the law doesn’t put you in front of those who are following the law, and must not be rewarded. But if you can prove how long you’ve been here, and you are willing to pay a yearly $3,650 fine, you go to the head of the illegal line.

Let’s stop feeling guilty for the success of our economic system and put the blame where it belongs – and that is on the governments south of the border.

Craig A. Deare is a retired Army officer and has served on the faculty of the National Defense University since 2001.