Laura Bush confident in Mexico-U.S. immigration agreement

The News - Mexico City ^ | 9/26/02 | N/A

[Tancredo Fan]

Laura Bush confident in Mexico-U.S. immigration agreement

EFE - 9/26/2002

U.S. First Lady Laura Bush said she was convinced an immigration agreement could be reached between Mexico and the United States, because their leaders want it.

Mrs. Bush, who participated in the 11th Conference of the Wives of Heads of State and Government in Mexico City on Wednesday, said, "I do see a solution to this problem."

In statements to the Mexican press made in Washington and published Wednesday in Reforma daily, Laura Bush explained she and her husband had lived in Texas for many years and have a special sensitivity for the problems of the U.S. Hispanic community.

"There are so many stories about immigrants and the children of immigrants in the United States. Our whole country is made up of immigrants who were able to overcome poverty and obtain good jobs. There are many examples in my husband's administration," the first lady noted.

Mrs. Bush acknowledged that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had set back the agenda between Mexico and the United States, but insisted that Presidents Bush and Fox "are going to meet again to try to revitalize and refocus the issue of immigration."

The first lady said she felt "a special bond with Mexico" and recalled the couple had spent their honeymoon in Mexico City and the Caribbean resort of Cozumel. The first lady is expected to focus on childhood poverty as she participates in this summit.

[reagent]

I do think that's a bit racist, though. You should be more open-minded about Urinating-Americans.

[two23]

I was living in FL when the haitians were washing up on the beach in my town...talk about health hazard...no immunizations AT all...and resturant owners were putting them to work in the kitchens....

[Black Agnes]

Oh I'm sure. Especially when they pull their business out in front of G-d and everyone to take a whiz. Gosh, what was I thinking. The smell of urine baking on a sidewalk in the sun is just wonderful...

[Barnacle]

Our whole country is made up of immigrants who were able to overcome poverty and obtain good jobs.

So, these people (the Bushes) are unable to distinguish between immigrants and invaders?

[Black Agnes]

MMMM, fries with a side order of Hepatitis...

[DoughtyOne]

Make that freeze for five years and I'm in full agreement. For five years we can do intensive background checks on middle eastern immigrants. When those are all cleared up, we can start to get back to normal at our airports. We can remove cameras in public places and our nation can get on with life as it should be.

[Black Agnes]

Somehow I don't think that's part of the 'agenda'.

[Barnacle]

I was in a Wendy's where the Hispanic workers were really "getting-off" by jabbering away in a foreign language. I could tell that other people in line were also offended by this "In your face" antic.

I'll go to a Mexican restaurant if I want that atmosphere, but not Wendy's.

[dixie sass]

Until Americans stop hiring the illegals and using them in their sweat shops and fields, we will continually have this problem.

Americans are as much a part of the problem, perhaps more so because we are so very hypocritical about it. On the one hand we want cheap labor and no responsibility to the labor force and on the other we don't want the very people who give us the cheap labor. If Americans were willing to work for less than minimum wage and follow the crops or work in the sweat shops for less than minimum wages, we might see a change. Though I doubt it.

Others see America as the land of opportunity with streets of gold - the media and the entertainment industry have done a good job of promoting it. So of course you are going to have people coming into the States in anyway that they can to snatch a part of that dream - legally or illegally.

[Bikers4Bush]

Great, now the first lady is even encouraging the illegals.

Think she'd let them live on the White House lawn or squat on their ranch in Crawford?

[Black Agnes]

A lot of the illegals in my 'hood double dip. They get paid cash under the table from which they pay no taxes or SS. (so, $10/hr is really $10/hr!) Then, they also get welfare/foodstamps/WIC. If they were just getting paid lower wages but paid taxes and weren't eligible to get handouts I'd agree.

[dixie sass]

You and I can sit in our comfortable apartments or homes and make that statement - try telling that to the farmer who needs cheap labor to bring in his crops or the clothes manufacture in LA or ...

These people will tell you that they need the cheap labor because they will be unable to bring in their crops or sell their goods at a reasonable price. They will tell you that they can't hire Americans because they don't want to make low wages.

[FITZ]

The problem with overcoming their poverty today along with no education and no language skills, is that Socialist programs only get much larger. The immigrants aren't paying their own way, it's taxpayers that must somehow try to get them out of poverty.

Maybe life has changed too much ---200 years ago, even 100 years ago people could make it with no education and health care didn't cost an outrageous amount. Today it costs $7000 a year for each child that taxpayers must pay and there are enormous medical costs because every immigrant is entitled to the best healthcare they can get but they aren't the ones paying for it.

[Black Agnes]

Most of the chicken plants (tyson, pilgrims pride/etc) hire them because they can pay them less than they *were* paying the locals and pocket the difference. Most chicken in this country is processed by illegals. Have you seen prices decrease? I'd rather pay 50c more for a head of lettuce than pay 90% more in taxes (our property taxes just got raised to build more classrooms for the illegals kids).

[FITZ]

These people will tell you that they need the cheap labor

Then what is the logic in "amnesty" which makes the cheap illegal labor legal and they no longer qualify for their jobs because a legal must be paid minimum wage? The last blanket amnesty legalized millions of illegal who then could live better off welfare or had to find legal jobs ---their employers had to find a whole new set of illegals to replace them. If cheap labor is needed there could be a temporary worker program or something else. I'd rather see welfare ended first before we import many more low-skilled people.

[RLK]

The first lady said she felt "a special bond with Mexico"

-----------------------------------

I wish she and her husband would go live there forever and take their mindless obsessions with them.

[RLK]

Vicente Fox delivered an ultimatum Fox has unprecedented control over a US president. You have to wonder why he is calling all the shots here.

------------------------------------

Because we don't have a president. What we have is a compliant mindless goof except in in the instance of the family obsession with Saddam Hussein.

[Black Agnes]

ping!

[Tancredo Fan]

I saw this letter to the editor a year or so ago in a Tucson newspaper. It was so good that I saved it. Take a look:

Your editorial rightly points to work site enforcement as a vital element in the effort to stop illegal immigration. However, your inference that lettuce might cost $5 a head if we enforced our laws defeats your purpose. Before employing a fear tactic favored by open borders advocates, why not ask yourself how much of the cost of a head of lettuce goes to pay field workers? According to the University of California, is costs around 22 cents to grow and harvest a head of lettuce. Of that, about 15 cents goes for farm labor. If we doubled the wages of farm workers, the cost of a head of lettuce would increase by fifteen cents -- even less if labor saving machines are justified. For labor costs to force lettuce to $5 per head, farmers would have to pay field workers $280 an hour. At that rate, it would be the kind of work "every American would want to do."

The problem with illegal immigration is not that labor costs too much; it is that growers compete in a commodity market. If one grower can outdo another by using illegal labor, then his profits will increase. Inevitably, all growers must do the same thing to survive. As recent studies show, illegal immigration is driving down the wages of millions of Americans, while at the same time increasing their taxes. To stop this downward spiral we must control the borders and police the work site as well.

Answer: Toss out all illegal alien slaves, and don't be a tightwad when it come to paying American workers a living wage.

[4Freedom]

"...Laura Bush explained that she and her husband had lived in Texas for many years..."

Glad you liked it Laura. You and the hubby will be going back in 2004!

Marie Antoinette was vilified by the French people for putting the welfare of her Austrian countrymen ahead of theirs. Laura's doing the same here.

Laurantoinette of Texas. History repeats itself, again.