There is trouble brewing - north and south of the Mexican Border. Hopefully,it will do nothing more than fizzle like a damp firecracker ...but there is danger of an explosion , and of other nasty surprises.
South of the Border , long-brewing pressures have led to the opening "dance steps" of a leftist revolution.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador : the leftist "Mayor" of Mexico City ( who is much-beloved by The New York Times) , ran for President , and was defeated -closely,but conclusively, by his "centrist" opponent,Felipe Calderon.
In an opening movement as graceful as any bolero , Sr. Obrador cried "foul" , and demanded the Courts resolve the issue. They did : finding a handful of questionable ballots - but not enough to make a difference, and declared his opponent the victor.
Obrador switched to a samba: whipping his supporters up to a frenzy , blocking the streets of Mexico City with massive demonstrations, and telling the Media he will take over the Presidency on September 16 : Mexico's Independence Day.
So far, apart from a disapproving editorial in the LA Times , the US Media are ignoring the story - in favor of breathless revelations that the cell phone you gave away or sold may bits of personal data on it.
This situation doesn't even scratch the surface of Mexico's problems. Racial tension (between Indios and Mestizos) , gang wars that look like military operations ,gut-wrenching poverty , drug trafficking,human trafficking,official corruption,and an economy that has come to depend - in significant measure - on money sent home by Mexicans who have entered the United States illegally .
That brings us to the revolution brewing North of the Border.
I live in a northern state - and - for all the problems we face here , I am grateful I don't live in Arizona, New Mexico,Texas,or California : places where the presence of huge numbers of illegal aliens , who continue to swarm over,under, around, and through the Border is a crude , in-your-face daily reality , rather than a bland, distant "concept".
Many of the people who live in these Border states feel they have been abandoned by the Federal government; and that their leadership has been corrupted by corporate moneychangers,who have bribed lawmakers with campaign contributions to insure a steady supply of illegal alien workers they can take advantage of.
Some of these folks say that any church that extends help to illegal aliens is "guilty of aiding and abetting" ; "only doing so to fatten their collection plates" ; "committing treason against American citizens".
Many of these people are talking - quite seriously - of a "Second Revolution".
Some believe they can accomplish this revolution at the ballot box. Others,quite frankly, are so disenchanted they are considering taking up arms against " the invaders " - or their own government.
From their standpoint , illegal immigration has progressed from a steady trickle to a tidal wave. The most energetic portion of this human wave migrates north: causing few local problems; but the sick,the slick,the inept, and the lazy " wash up on the beach " of the Border states like so much flotsam and jetsam : adding a crushing burden to the already-strained local infrastructure.
Border state jails are crowded with these "undocumented persons" - (one sheriff claimed they made up 80% of his jail population) - as are the state prisons. Hospitals - compelled by law to accept charity cases , but reimbursed at ruinously low rates are in precarious condition - and some have been forced into bankruptcy. Schools are crowded with youngsters who speak little or no English - but must,somehow,receive an education.
The cost to Border state taxpayers is apalling . Some of them are retirees ,who lived and worked in the northern states , and came to the Southwest thinking their fixed incomes would "stretch further"...and that there would be less crime (!) ; but most of the Border staters are still working : trying to raise families on incomes that don't measure up to wages paid in the more prosperous North - partly - some say - because so much "cheap" immigrant labor is available.
These are very real concerns , and unless they are addressed - promptly and properly - we could have our own civil war - misguided as such an action might be.
Nobody has asked my advice , but here it is anyway !
- Mr. President, build up that wall. Secure that Border by any means available-no matter who complains !
- Clear out the "Invaders". I'd start the effort in the Border states , and work my way north.
- Use troops if neccessary. Deputize them as US Marshals or ICE Agents to get around the posse comitatus restrictions. (If that means bringing them home from Iraq, so be it. Iraq is no longer a danger to us or to its neighbors, and it's high time they began looking to their own well being.)
- Make an example of deliberate violators. If certain businesses are deliberately "importing" undocumented labor, shut them down - no ifs ands or buts.
- Set up a Guest Laborer system for those businesses that must have temporary workers (ex: migrant farm workers). The workers can walk in at the front gate, register , be given GPS - chipped documents , and can be taxed on their income like the rest of us.
If Mexico (or Iraq for that matter ) chooses to go to Hell in a handbasket , that's their affair . We have problems of our own to deal with - and shouldn't have to talk about a "second revolution" to get them resolved !
Comments