Posted on 05/21/2006 10:13:38 AM PDT by LouAvul
MEXICO CITY - If Arnold Schwarzenegger had migrated to Mexico instead of the United States, he couldn't be a governor. If Argentina native Sergio Villanueva, firefighter hero of the Sept. 11 attacks, had moved to Tecate instead of New York, he wouldn't have been allowed on the force.
Even as Mexico presses the United States to grant unrestricted citizenship to millions of undocumented Mexican migrants, its officials at times calling U.S. policies "xenophobic," Mexico places daunting limitations on anyone born outside its territory.
In the United States, only two posts — the presidency and vice presidency — are reserved for the native born.
In Mexico, non-natives are banned from those and thousands of other jobs, even if they are legal, naturalized citizens.
Foreign-born Mexicans can't hold seats in either house of the congress. They're also banned from state legislatures, the Supreme Court and all governorships. Many states ban foreign-born Mexicans from spots on town councils. And Mexico's Constitution reserves almost all federal posts, and any position in the military and merchant marine, for "native-born Mexicans."
Recently the Mexican government has gone even further. Since at least 2003, it has encouraged cities to ban non-natives from such local jobs as firefighters, police and judges.
Mexico's Interior Department — which recommended the bans as part of "model" city statutes it distributed to local officials — could cite no basis for extending the bans to local posts.
After being contacted by The Associated Press about the issue, officials changed the wording in two statutes to delete the "native-born" requirements, although they said the modifications had nothing to do with AP's inquiries.
"These statutes have been under review for some time, and they have, or are about to be, changed," said an Interior Department official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name.
But because the "model" statues are fill-in-the-blanks guides for framing local legislation, many cities across Mexico have already enacted such bans. They have done so even though foreigners constitute a tiny percentage of the population and pose little threat to Mexico's job market.
The foreign-born make up just 0.5 percent of Mexico's 105 million people, compared with about 13 percent in the United States, which has a total population of 299 million. Mexico grants citizenship to about 3,000 people a year, compared to the U.S. average of almost a half million.
"There is a need for a little more openness, both at the policy level and in business affairs," said David Kim, president of the Mexico-Korea Association, which represents the estimated 20,000 South Koreans in Mexico, many of them naturalized citizens.
"The immigration laws are very difficult ... and they put obstacles in the way that make it more difficult to compete," Kim said, although most foreigners don't come to Mexico seeking government posts.
J. Michael Waller, of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, was more blunt. "If American policy-makers are looking for legal models on which to base new laws restricting immigration and expelling foreign lawbreakers, they have a handy guide: the Mexican constitution," he said in a recent article on immigration.
Some Mexicans agree their country needs to change.
"This country needs to be more open," said Francisco Hidalgo, a 50-year-old video producer. "In part to modernize itself, and in part because of the contribution these (foreign-born) people could make."
Others express a more common view, a distrust of foreigners that academics say is rooted in Mexico's history of foreign invasions and the loss of territory in the 1847-48 Mexican-American War.
Speaking of the hundreds of thousands of Central Americans who enter Mexico each year, chauffeur Arnulfo Hernandez, 57, said: "The ones who want to reach the United States, we should send them up there. But the ones who want to stay here, it's usually for bad reasons, because they want to steal or do drugs."
Some say progress is being made. Mexico's president no longer is required to be at least a second-generation native-born. That law was changed in 1999 to clear the way for candidates who have one foreign-born parent, like President Vicente Fox, whose mother is from Spain.
But the pace of change is slow. The state of Baja California still requires candidates for the state legislature to prove both their parents were native born.
You won't see this on 60 Minutes.
What's good for the goose...
You won't see 60 Minutes talking about how Mexico treats its illegal immigrants, either.
Most other countries favor their own citizens over foreigners. The exceptions are the politically correct U.S. and western Europe.
But where's THEIR diversity?
We are only xenophobic because of US actions (revised to fit our agenda) over 150 years in the past.
Poor babies. And we should just bend over and 'trust' them in our country? Screw you corrupt mexican elites. Go ahead and stew in your own filth. The irony will be when you see your castoff citizens who eventually get fed up coming back to overthrow your corrupt asses.
One can hope anyway.
OK AP/Yahoo, what's wrong with this statement? Did you lose your copy of the dictionary that has the word 'illegal' in it?
Go to h*ll you 'mainstream media' liars and traitors.
Of course, most of their laws would be blatently unconsitutional, but I would hope it would be a wakeup call to the US, although I have no doubt that after an initial vilification by the press, they'd drop the story like a hot potato, and probably not mention where the bill came from in the first place.
Mark
ping
Maybe someone in the MSM can asks him about this during his visit this week..
Fox's U.S. trip slated at 'terrible time' in debate on immigration - CA, WA, UT - May 23-26 ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1635914/posts
I like your idea a LOT! I hope he takes you up on it!
For the life of me I can't see why Dubya LOVEs Vincente..
He must be UNaware Mexico is a Mexican Mafia run organization..
UNLess hes NOT?.. Whoa.. whats up with that?..
You won't see that happening here in the U.S. either.
"The state of Baja California still requires candidates for the state legislature to prove both their parents were native born."
Maybe we should leave Iraq and take Mexico city!!
Mexico Ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.