At the risk of hijacking this thread, has anybody given serious thought to simply have the U.S. take over Mexico before Mexico takes over us? I mean, if we can overthrow the Iraqi government half a globe away, why can't we do it to our own neighbor?
I'm not talking about a military seizure as much as a corporate buy-out. We can make them a territory-state like Puerto Rico and, over the course of 40 years or so, turn them into five new U.S. states. We would still have border security during the transition time.
It would eventually eliminate illegal immigration and improve both economies undoing all the black market things going on in secret.
I'm not looking for reasons why this won't work (anybody can be negative) but for reasons why/how this could be accomplished.
As I see it, if we give them amnesty then we are just inviting more illegals. If we try to kick them all out, we open up a Pandora's Box of ill-will, violence, and attempts to enter the country illegally.
By simply absorbing Mexico into our own country and finding transitional ways to meld the two under U.S. law, you could end the problem as well as expand our economy and replenish our military forces.
So, you'd like to live in a country where the single largest voting block by far would be ethnic, nationalist Mexicans?
Um, it might be "U.S. law", but it would be made by Mexico.
American laws aren't handed down from the mount. They come from the people. With 140 - 150 million ethnic Mexicans constituting oh, 1/3 to 1/2 the population, they will make the rules. Unless of course you're advocating some sort of "Reconstruction" period for them where they are deprived of vote and nationality, and are psychologically "reconstructed" to not be themselves.
Personally I think it would be easier just to enforce our immigration laws.
One of my CA cousins has suggested to me a similar idea as yours.
Also get their hemp which can be made into many LEGITIMATE products.
Would the enviros let us keep drilling for oil there, if we owned it?
As someone who is the son of a Mexican immigrant and with 90% of my relatives being Mexicans living in Mexico (which will come as a surprise to some who've read my immigration posts), believe me, it would be far more trouble than it is worth. Mexico has been so dysfunctional in so many different ways for so long it simply would not be cost effective and would ultimately bankrupt our country.
You would have to mandate the English language to do so. I agree, that country is slipping into absolute chaos. Soon it will become a certified threat to the USA. But we still won't be popular when we annex it!
"merge Mexico into the U.S."
I think that's exactly what Bush is trying to do.
Actually it would not eliminate illegal immigration-just move the border farther south. The border would be a much shorter line but the terrain is jungle and mountains, not desert.
That would give the democrats ten new Marxist senators and a couple of hundred congressman wearing Che Guevarra t-shirts. Bright idea, Einstein.
"U.S. take over Mexico"
No way!
I would be, like, the biggest basket case ever. I was thinking aobut giving them Southern Cali and calling it even!
I'd like to see what Mexicans think of that. As bad as it is there they likely wouldn't mind.