Posted on 05/13/2005 2:29:12 PM PDT by seastay
Mexico has reacted furiously to a bill signed into law by the US this week that would fund a border wall and prevent illegal Mexican migrants from obtaining US driving licences.
President Vicente Fox said he would lodge a diplomatic complaint, and was considering complaints to multilateral bodies if Mexico could not unable to resolve the problem bilaterally.
In the US, leaders of the Mexican community threatened to strike to send a message to US employers that they could not survive without cheap Mexican labour.
Santiago Creel, Mexico's interior secretary, said the “Real ID” law was “negative, inconvenient, and obstructionist”.
“Building walls doesn't help anyone build a good neighbourhood,” he said. “Taking away the possibility of obtaining driving licences for people who are working in legal jobs, who pay their taxes there, who send remittances home here, seems to us to be an extreme measure, particularly given the new understanding that we thought we had after the re-election of President Bush.”
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, mayor of Mexico City, supported Mr Fox's stance. He said the problem of growing immigration could be “resolved by encouraging development in Mexico and Central America, not by building walls and using the border control”.
Since 2002, Mexico has adopted a popular policy of issuing undocumented labourers with consular identity cards, which are accepted as proof of identity by many US states for issuing driving licences, and for opening bank accounts. Under the new law, this would no longer be possible. The immigration provisions approved by Congress were attached by House Republicans to a bill that will provide more than $80bn for the war in Iraq this year, giving lawmakers little choice but to support it.
The White House, which at first opposed the new restrictions, supported them when it became clear they would pass Congress in spite of administration opposition.
President George W. Bush has said he wants to deal with illegal immigration by creating a temporary guest worker programme. But many Republicans are using the anxiety about terrorism to push for a crackdown on illegal immigrants.
BUT, it helps keep the vermin out of your 'house'.
“Taking away the possibility of obtaining driving licences for people who are working in legal jobs, who pay their taxes there, who send remittances home here, seems to us to be an extreme measure, particularly given the new understanding that we thought we had after the re-election of President Bush.”
Working a legal job and paying taxes (like, WHEN is the government gonna question someone who is apparently paying enough or a little bit more?) doesn't mean a thing when you've broken the law to get here in the first place.
I suspect that you're right, since Bush seems more concerned with pleasing Mexico than listening to Americans who elected him to do his job.
EXCELLENT post, D1 (and 100% true). Anyone who can't see what is happening to our country is blind, deaf and dumb.
It's called the ZONE OF COOPERATION. All laid out nice and neat in that NAFTA agreement that Rush Limbaugh thought was would be such a boom to our economy.
It forgets to mention that the Californios at the time became fat and lazy and not motivated to really protect the ranchos in the areas the earlier padres had spent their lives developing and bringing law and order to. Sounds somewhat similiar to our present predicament
No self respecting Mexican born citizen of that era would intentionally stray to California, they were tied to Mexico as a status symbol and a way to get back to Spain with a title.
O'Reilly clearly decided it was NOT a CRIME, just a CIVIL issue.
I think O'Reilly--the wind watcher--is full of crap.
How do Border Patrol agents handcuff, arrest and detain Illegals for civil matters?
Here is the US Code section I sent O'Reilly.
The paragraph (a) part is clearly criminal, yet the paragraph (b) appears civil. Is this a Border Patrol agent "judgement" thing ?
Is there a lawyer or BP agent around who could explain this once and for all?
Title 8 Section 1325. Improper entry by alien
(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection;
misrepresentation and concealment of facts Any alien who
(1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or
(2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or
(3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Improper time or place; civil penalties
Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to enter) the United States at a time or place other than as designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil penalty of - $50.....
I wonder how many Mexican politicians have walls around their homes, and exactly what are those walls are supposed to keep out?
Walls alone are not enough.
We need a combination of both.
I don't want to chase illegals around our country after they've swarmed the borders.
I want walls along both borders and our men and women on those walls to stop the illegal aliens and drug smugglers from ever getting into our country in the first place!
What part of the phrase "unauthorized, illegal entry" do the leaders of the Mexican Invasion NOT comprenden?
For anybody that tries to cross wearing a gas mask, we could use bean bag guns.
Lol, that'd work too....
Better than having a Red Carpet rolled out and hor d'oerves served by Dubya personally.
If I can locate an address for Pres. Fox, this is what I will send him . Any suggestions?
Querido Señor Fox,
No nos digas cómo conducir nuestro propio país, Vicente. Los Estados Unidos de América nos pertenece a nosotros, no pertenece a ti ni a tus Mejicanos pobres que mandas aquí.
Ellos no son "trabajadores sin documentos." Son ILEGALES. Son invasores. Han violado nuestra frontera sin permiso, y están viviendo y trabajando aquí ILEGALMENTE. Si quieren vivir y trabajar aquí, deben solicitar permiso por medio del proceso LEGAL de inmigración. Somos una nación de leyes, y los ilegales no respetan a nuestras leyes. No merecen quedarse aquí.
¿Qué me pasaría si yo entrara a Méjico sin permiso, y si yo tomo un trabajo que "no hará ningún mejicano"? Claro. Me echarán en la cárcel.
Vicente, tu eres un sin vergüenza y un enemigo de los Estados Unidos de América. Estamos viviendo en una época de guerra, y tú te atreves decir que no tenemos el derecho, como un país soberano, de defender nuestra frontera? Idiota.
Sinceramente,
Los CIUDADANOS de los Estados Unidos de America
[For the hard-of-Spanish]:
Dear Mr. Fox,
Don't tell us how to run our country, Vince. The US of A belongs to us, not to you or to the poor Mexicans you send here.
They are not "undocumented workers." They are ILLEGALS. They are invaders. They have violated our borders without permission, and are living and working here ILLEGALLY. If they want to live and work here, they must request permission through the LEGAL process of immigration. We are a country of laws, and the illegals do not respect our laws. They do not deserve to stay here.
What would happen to me if I entered Mexico without permission, and I took a job that "no Mexican would do"? Of course. I'd be thrown in jail.
Vincent, you are a shameless enemy of the United States of America. We are living in a time of war, and you dare to say that as a soverign nation we do not have the right to defend our borders? Idiot.
Sincerely,
The CITIZENS of the United States of America
LOL, I got a kick out of reading that their government down there is passing a law pertaining to the 'first ladys' duties and spending allowance.
Fox's wife has been spending way too much.
Oh I read horrible stories about people needing medical aid in Mexico, had to max out their credit cards before they would do anything and they tried to prevent people leaving who hadn't fully paid!!
Fox blows my mind, who does he think he is?? Bush never replies to any of it!
I'm kind of off and on right now if you don't get some replies. Hope all's well.
Hang in there. Don't stop just as we are turning the corner. We can win this one yet. It will take much more hard work, but we can win it.
Creel is a fool. Fences make for good neighbors. I say, let's make Mexico a great neighbor by building a gigantic fence.
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