Why is it that Texas conservatives like us are pro-business, capitalist, and immigrant-friendly whereas California "conservatives" on FR are totalitarian, restrictionist, isolationist, and anti-immigrant to the core? God Bless Texas, imho. Because the sushi-and-brie eating, Chablis-drinking foofooers out in California only want browns around when one of their kids gets a suntan.
We, in Texas, have had bunches of Mexicans around since we declared independence. Texas has the LOWEST payments to welfare recipients of any state in the Union, so immigrants who come here have GOT to work.
We've got taquerias sprouting up all over the Metroplex here. Fresh, homemade Mexican food, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And the hottest salsa in the universe!
How coudl I not be happy?
Much the same in California.
I will add that Mexicans are great at all sort of entrepreneurial things. Most of the small machine-shop subcontractors in San Jose and LA were Mexicans.
I think there's one more thing you're missing as well. Texans are much more Christian and even non-practicing Christians are immersed in a culture of it... so people just naturally seem to understand that why they might disagree with immigration policies and the act of illegally immigrating, that it would not be a very Christ-like thing to go despise these people and outcast them. Like I say... God Bless Texas.