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Question: Why won’t Bush & Fox’s illegal-immigrant plan work?
The Orange County Weekly ^ | 01.23.04 | Gustavo Arellano

Posted on 01/23/2004 7:01:23 PM PST by Beck_isright

Answer: Because Mexicans Never Return to Mexico

Question: Why won’t Bush & Fox’s illegal-immigrant plan work?


by Gustavo Arellano

For years, the only phone in my mother’s hometown of El Cargadero, nestled high in the mountains of the desiccated central Mexican state of Zacatecas, was in the house of Salvador Barrios. Whenever someone received a call, Salvador had to jog up and down El Cargadero’s hilly streets and let the person know that someone wanted to talk to them. It didn’t matter if it was night or day, heat or rain: Salvador ran. But thanks to the thousands of dollars that my mother’s fellow expatriate cargaderenses wired to their birthplace over the decades, the Mexican government finally installed telephones in El Cargadero two years ago—and Salvador’s aching legs finally get a rest.

President Bush cites this modernization of El Cargadero and countless other Mexican ranchos as justification for his half-assed revamping of American immigration policy. Bush is calling for the abolishment of the U.S.-Mexico border—but only for Mexicans who register with American companies willing to employee them for a maximum of six years. There is no call for amnesty in Bush’s proposal. Instead, all participants would only attain the minimal rights guaranteed to American workers, such as minimum wage, safety-regulations and sick leave. As a churro on a stick, Bush also suggests the establishment of a lucrative pension fund that workers can only cash in on when they return to Mexico.

Bush presented his program by arguing that Mexican immigrants come to this country only to earn enough cash that can be lived off in Mexico, a view seconded by President Vicente Fox of Mexico. "[Mexicans] are not going to become American citizens, nor do they want U.S. citizenship," Fox told the Associated Press on Jan. 9. "They want to have their rights respected, to get good pay for their work and to be able to visit their families in Mexico."

But El Cargadero’s reality betrays Fox and Bush’s vision. Despite the rancho’s assumption of suburban infrastructure while retaining its pastoral charm, it is dead. Only the elderly, the young, and the drunk remain. Anyone able to migrate did years ago, with more than 1,000 of us residing in Anaheim alone. And while the capital investments in El Cargadero are spectacular—there are even lawns and sprinklers in some yards nowadays—these are monuments to immigrant entrepreneurship experienced only weeks at a time. The rest of the year, the hard labor of a generation stands deserted, a staid museum display rather than a living, breathing community. Even Salvador Barrios’ house is largely empty: all his children migrated when they turned 18.

My ancestral village’s depressing case isn’t exclusive at all. Modern Mexico has come to this: hamlets eagerly embracing the 21st century but with the majority of its children toiling away in el Norte. They’ve been leaving now for a good century, transforming Latinos into the largest American ethnic group. With Mexico’s economy continuing to stagnate, this phenomenon won’t let up anytime soon.

Immigrants send back money to Mexico by the billions—an estimated $14 billion in 2003—and visit come vacation time, residing in now-lavish houses funded by years of sweat. But that’s all Mexico is to them now, a vacation spot. They invariably trek back to the States after realizing life in Mexico is inferior. They imbibe from the damned American cup of success—the higher wages, better living conditions and modern-day comforts—and find it attractive. They have children, who then assimilate to the point where Mexico means nothing other than food and music and where grandma lives.

Bush’s plan ignores this relevant fact, however, since its implementation would be a victory for the American and Mexican governments. Bush’s big business buddies can now legally fill employment shortages that Americans would easily assume if it wasn’t for the insulting pay. These Mexicans never have a chance of becoming citizens, thereby absolving the United States of any true responsibility toward them. Fox, in turn, doesn’t have to improve his own country and allows his paisanos to leave, ensuring that the restless Mexican nation doesn’t heed its centurial call to revolution. The billions sent back maintain Mexico’s economy—and the Mexican government doesn’t even have to worry about taking care of this money spout.

The losers, of course, are the Mexican immigrants—aren’t they always? "Dear and beloved Mexico/If I die far away from you/May they say that I’m sleeping/And that they return me to you," the immortal charro Jorge Negrete sang in "México, Lindo y Querido." All Mexican immigrants—legal and illegal—maintain the illusion of returning one day to Mexico. But they rarely return permanently, and without any possibility for amnesty, illegal immigrants will continue to live in the shadows. All they will have is an empty house in Mexico, a house that keeps their nostalgia but little else.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aliens; amnesty; crime; illegalalien; immigrantlist; immigration; immigrationplan
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To: StatesEnemy
Bush is in for a rude awakening... I am willing to deal with four years of Kerry if it gets the message across to the GOP.

Do you really think that if Kerry wins, that anybody will interpret it as a message to the GOP? Are you kidding me? A Democratic victory will be perceived as the nation turning Democrat, and nothing else.

41 posted on 01/23/2004 7:51:59 PM PST by NYCVirago
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To: Porterville
"A traitor is someone who also remains in the dark and does nothing, which you advocate, to solve the black market in labor."

trai·tor ( P ) Pronunciation Key (trtr) n.

- One who betrays one's country, a cause, or a trust, especially one who commits treason.

1. One who violates his allegiance and betrays his country; one guilty of treason; one who, in breach of trust, delivers his country to an enemy, or yields up any fort or place intrusted to his defense, or surrenders an army or body of troops to the enemy, unless when vanquished; also, one who takes arms and levies war against his country; or one who aids an enemy in conquering his country. See Treason.

2. Hence, one who betrays any confidence or trust; a betrayer. ``This false traitor death.'' --Chaucer.

\Trai"tor\, v. t. To act the traitor toward; to betray; to deceive. [Obs.] `` But time, it traitors me.'' --Lithgow.

n 1: someone who betrays his country by committing treason [syn: treasonist] 2: a person who says one thing and does another [syn: double-crosser, double-dealer, betrayer]


Section 8 of the US Constitution spells out alot in this area. Funny, the definition says nothing about illegal aliens and black market labor. Just betraying your sworn allegiences and duties. You know, like "Oath of Office" and little things like that.
42 posted on 01/23/2004 7:52:03 PM PST by Beck_isright ("Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."-Alexander Hamilton)
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To: yooper
That is what I thought, but I rarely see it pulled off.
43 posted on 01/23/2004 7:52:47 PM PST by StatesEnemy
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To: Beck_isright
So Bush and his cabinet are traitors too?? Oh, you sound a lot like a D Uer... sad, because I believe you were once a Marine.
44 posted on 01/23/2004 7:54:30 PM PST by Porterville (Traitors against God, country, family, and benefactors lament their sins in the deepest part of hell)
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To: StatesEnemy
Read your tagline...

And yet, so many people here just don't get it. God strike me dead, to the day I die, I won't understand their tow the line thinking. And, I mean it. No combativeness this time at all, I am just at a loss for words with these people now.

45 posted on 01/23/2004 7:55:58 PM PST by ShadowDancer
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To: Beck_isright
So, you believe Bush is guilty of a capital crime?
46 posted on 01/23/2004 7:57:49 PM PST by Texasforever
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To: StatesEnemy
Well, I'm usually several hours late with snappy comebacks, so I was proud of this one. Its one of my best posts, though I suspect no one else saw what you did. Thanks for responding, and best to you.......
47 posted on 01/23/2004 7:58:06 PM PST by yooper (If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there......)
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To: Beck_isright
You know, like "Oath of Office" and little things like that.

Do you actually think President Bush is a traitor?

48 posted on 01/23/2004 7:59:04 PM PST by new cruelty (Better the devil you know than the devil don't)
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To: StatesEnemy
I advocate fining and arresting those that hire illegals. Cut off the incentive at the head.

That is fine and good, but how in Gods name in todays modern world of communication do you transport 8-10 million people as far as Alaska to Mexico?? How??? You have to cut off the incentive by starving them out and forcing business to bend to the law. It is a siege that Bush is proposing, he will atrophy the workers and they'll be registered, all incentives gone and we know where they live. IT IS STRATEGY.

49 posted on 01/23/2004 7:59:13 PM PST by Porterville (Traitors against God, country, family, and benefactors lament their sins in the deepest part of hell)
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To: Porterville
I'm not "afraid" of disease. However unchecked in an illegal population, the mutations could spread to the general population in the larger cities. The results in the United States are already being felt with the mutated version of TB.
50 posted on 01/23/2004 8:01:07 PM PST by Beck_isright ("Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."-Alexander Hamilton)
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To: new cruelty
Do you actually think President Bush is a traitor?

A crime that carries the death penalty at that. This is the second poster to make that charge and I for one am going to press them on it.

51 posted on 01/23/2004 8:01:20 PM PST by Texasforever
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To: StatesEnemy
One thing; I want what you want, the end to the problem. Bush is offering a strategy to starve it off while making democrats and the liberal-socialist believe they are sucking honey.
52 posted on 01/23/2004 8:01:24 PM PST by Porterville (Traitors against God, country, family, and benefactors lament their sins in the deepest part of hell)
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To: Porterville
The Strategy has to start in Mexico. Its like the drug war; neutralizing the source is much more effective than trying to jail the mulitude of consumers...
53 posted on 01/23/2004 8:01:30 PM PST by yooper (If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there......)
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To: new cruelty
" Do you actually think President Bush is a traitor?"

Not yet. He has yet to execute an E.O. making this the law of the land. However if he does force this through via an E.O., then yes, I would.
54 posted on 01/23/2004 8:02:06 PM PST by Beck_isright ("Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."-Alexander Hamilton)
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To: Beck_isright
No, I understand. But, try and think about the Bush strategy, he isn't just pandering.
55 posted on 01/23/2004 8:02:23 PM PST by Porterville (Traitors against God, country, family, and benefactors lament their sins in the deepest part of hell)
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To: Porterville
"So Bush and his cabinet are traitors too?? Oh, you sound a lot like a D Uer... sad, because I believe you were once a Marine."

Not yet. If he executes an E.O. forcing this "proposal" as the law of the land, then yes, he is.
56 posted on 01/23/2004 8:02:53 PM PST by Beck_isright ("Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."-Alexander Hamilton)
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To: ShadowDancer
"And yet, so many people here just don't get it. God strike me dead, to the day I die, I won't understand their tow the line thinking. And, I mean it. No combativeness this time at all, I am just at a loss for words with these people now."

I'm totally at a loss for words. I just do not understand where Reagan's era ended and this foolishness started.
57 posted on 01/23/2004 8:04:04 PM PST by Beck_isright ("Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."-Alexander Hamilton)
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To: yooper
That's right, but with a guest worker program it will tighten the screws on business, and keep track of Mexican guest workers.
58 posted on 01/23/2004 8:04:30 PM PST by Porterville (Traitors against God, country, family, and benefactors lament their sins in the deepest part of hell)
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To: Porterville
"But, try and think about the Bush strategy, he isn't just pandering."

The entire GOP has been pandering for 8 years now. And it's pathetic.
59 posted on 01/23/2004 8:05:01 PM PST by Beck_isright ("Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."-Alexander Hamilton)
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To: Beck_isright
What is it about the Reagan era that you are referring to?
60 posted on 01/23/2004 8:05:21 PM PST by new cruelty (Better the devil you know than the devil don't)
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