RUTHFULLY YOURS

The debate over immigration reform, illegal aliens and border security presupposes that absorbing a constant flow of illegal immigrants, mainly from Mexico, is a good thing for Mexico and its people. But this presumption has neglected an important question: is the constant influx of poor and unskilled labor out of Mexico good for Mexico as an independent nation?

Even if we ignore the fact that the US cannot absorb and assimilate all the people who want to come to America, we cannot ignore the question of whether we are doing Mexico a favor with our open borders. No doubt, life as an illegal alien in the US is much better than being unemployed and poor in Mexico or any other third world country.

At face value illegal immigration seems to be good for Mexico, which benefits tremendously from the pouring of US dollars into its economy, supporting families and relatives of immigrants in America. That is why the Mexican government is not complaining and is happy to maintain the status quo on its borders. The government of Mexico acts like it is a right for its citizens to cross the borders into the US to find work. Not a bad deal for any government that does not want to be accountable to its own citizens to improve their lives, the economy and human rights conditions. The message of the Mexican government to its citizens is: You want a job, human rights and medical care, then go to the US if you can’t afford it here.

The natural urge for any country to improve comes from pressure from the lower classes that demand employment and pressure governments to work hard to educate citizens to meet the demands of job competition. By absorbing Mexico’s unskilled workers, the US government has become an enabler in this equation.

That is why the US government cannot claim to be an innocent victim here since it has politicized, used and abused the illegal immigration issue and narrowed it down to getting the Hispanic vote, name-calling Americans who want to respect the law and maintain border control, while neglecting the bigger picture: open border policies’ impact on the rights of American citizens and the healthy functioning of both Mexican and American sovereignty and economies.

If the huge number of illegal immigrants from Mexico was good for Mexico as a nation, then how come its economic, political and security conditions have not improved over the years, but instead have steadily deteriorated? The steady absorption of the bottom of Mexican society by the US has deprived Mexico of its motivation to improve its economy and to become a government that serves the welfare and living conditions of its poor and unemployed. Why should Mexico work hard on improving conditions for the poor and unemployed if America is doing the job for them?

It is not easy for any nation to be located on the border with a giant economic super power like the United States. This situation tempts smaller nations to exist like small fish living off the crumbs and leftovers of a giant whale.

The situation in both Mexico and the US is unnatural and self-defeating, leaving Mexico stagnant and unmotivated to improve and meet the needs of its citizens. Groups in America who claim moral superiority for being on the side of open borders and absorbing all illegal aliens because they have big hearts are in fact absolving the Mexican government of its duty toward its citizens and economy and are contributing to the internal problems of Mexico and the United States. In the long run, we are not doing Mexico a favor with our open borders, but we are crippling them and robbing them of the healthy functioning of their nation.

The US should immediately end the politicization of the immigration issue not only for the sake of America, but also for the sake of Mexico. We need a sane immigration policy that respects US sovereignty and that helps Mexico become more responsible as an independent nation to end its sluggish economy and political corruption.

The sovereignty of both the US and Mexico has been compromised under the status quo, which is unsustainable. Either we control the US border or say goodbye to both US and Mexican sovereignty as two separate nations.

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