Because of my family's (hispanic) heritage, we talk alot about immigration, especially illegal immigration. In general, I'm probably the most conservative about the matter. I think we can--and should--be as stringent in protecting our border with Mexico as as we possibly can.

The influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico is not likely to let up any time soon, and certainly not without stronger enforcement measures on our part. The reason? It's the economy--the Mexican economy, that is. And this problem is not going to be solved merely by closing the border as some conservatives have suggested. Oh, I suppose we could and it would work, but before we get too enamored of that idea consider that the unemployment rate in Mexico is roughly equivalent to that of the U.S. during the Great Depression. This article ("Mexican Magnet" published 17 August 2005
) would be well worth the time spent reading it.

Now, in all honesty, while I am certainly no fan of illegal immigration, I must wonder what I would do had--putting shoes on another foot--I been alive during the depression and all I had to do to support my family was smuggle myself into Mexico. I have always found it difficult to fault people simply for trying to make a living (though I do greatly fault people who do so and demand the privileges and immunities of citizenship, such as free education, in-state college tuition, drivers' licenses, etc).

Having said that, let me say that I find none of the arguments defending illegal immigrants very persuasive. My least favorite is the argument that illegals only take jobs that we are unwilling to take. The real truth is that they take jobs that most of us don't have to take. Frankly, most of us can take other jobs; we have other options. After all, why should someone give up a job that pays tens of thousands of dollars per year for one that doesn't pay much more than ten thousand--if even that much? The others of us don't take those jobs because one of the privileges and immunities of U.S. citizenship is that those members of the ranks of the unemployed who don't want "those jobs that no one wants" and, consequently, do not work, are able to live off of those who do work. We could try ending welfare and then see if there are any takers for those jobs "no one" wants.

But, for all that, it remains the case that the real problem is Mexico's economy. There is virtually no middle class in Mexico. And with an unemployment rate roughly that of our Great Depression, the average Mexican lives in the midst of what we would call a disaster area. And it isn't much different in South America either (especially in Guatemala). Our approach to the problem (and I don't claim to have a clue) must deal intelligently with that fact that many illegals are refugees. And it would be easier to feel like treating them like refugees if they would simply act like refugees. And many of them don't.

Take for example a certain rancher I heard of, though I have not been able to confirm this yet. He has been cautioned by his local government not do travers his property to check on the condition of his cattle. Why? Because it's dangerous. You see, his cattle are being rustled, not by cattle thieves who are going to take the rustled cattle to market, but by illegals. They take this man's cattle, slaughter them, then barbecue them--right on his property! This same man's parents, I have heard, were essentially held prisoners in their own homes by a group of illegals who came in and took over while they were trying to get away from someone who was after them. Imagine it.

In short, many people would find it easier to respond compassionately to theses refugees if more of them would act like refugees instead of invaders. You have to really know your Roman history to get the full import of this (and if you don't know your Roman history you won't understand it the way that you think you do): what is presently happening is a "barbarian" invasion. (Michelle Malkin has used her column to report on this invasion, which includes invasions by dangerous and violent gangs--in some cases machete-wielding gangs. See. e.g., her "The gangstas in my neighborhood" 31 August 2005 (accessed 31 August 2005).)

P.S.
It should be noted that many people coming into the U.S. are not Mexicans; they are South Americans.

Also, since 911 the United States have asked Mexico to beef up security along its border with Guatemala. Apparently, the idea is that many of those coming into the US from South America via Mexico may be potential terrorists. Fine. But I don't know about the advisability of passing part of our security problem down to Mexico when, as I've just said, they really have their own set of very real problems to work on. They have a Depression to put an end to.