Mexico uses the United States in order to avoid change

Patrick Osio Jr.:

President Bush announced he will begin the long-awaited Congressional push of his immigration-reform proposal. This brought new hope in Mexico that at long last President Fox's 2000 campaign promise may still be kept before next year's presidential elections. His PAN party could well use the victory, as it is in desperate need of a major achievement in its effort to hold on to the presidency, which as of now looks dismal.

It has long been held by most countries that immigration policy must be based on what is best for the country, not for the immigrant.

Mexico's immigration policy is very much based on this concept, as it should be. It is not easy for foreigners to simply apply for and receive a work-permit visa. Even to purchase a vacation home whether through title or a bank-trust (fideicomiso) in the foreign ownership forbidden zones requires a visa and proof of income from outside Mexico. Such visas are easy to obtain but must be renewed annually and do not permit holders to work in Mexico. Foreigners retiring in Mexico to obtain a visa must show proof of no less than $1,500 per month, and such a visa will not allow them to work.

Like the U.S. and other countries, Mexico does make it easy for certain individuals to obtain permanent residency (and eventual citizenship) allowing work in certain professions or for executives of multinational companies working in Mexico, business, industrial and real estate investors, etc. Such visas are clearly in Mexico's best interest, but like in the U.S., a low-income foreigner looking to immigrate to Mexico to compete with low-income national workers has no chance of being welcomed.

However, Mexico wants - no, insists - that the best U.S. immigration policy is one that considers what is best for Mexican immigrants and Mexico, while paying only lip service to their needed reforms negating the need for Mexicans to seek economic asylum in the U.S. And this is of course where the friction comes in. But, the U.S. bears much of the blame for spoiling Mexico on this issue.

I describe it as "spoil" because for decades the U.S. looked the other way while generation after generation of Mexican governments showed a high degree of competence for helping themselves to the wealth of their nation but limited competence on managing their vast country's assets. For 70 years the U.S. was well aware that Mexico's political system was under an institutional authoritarian and corrupt dictatorship and did and said nothing.

And, while supposedly guarding the border, it was miraculous how, after the cancellation of the Bracero program, during agricultural high seasons border guards seemed to evaporate, allowing a steady flow of workers in the country. And this, too, spoiled Mexico because that flow of workers acted as the steam-valve on a pressure-cooker holding social unrest at a minimum. This also allowed Mexico to ignore investing on needed economic development infrastructure to create more jobs that in turn would have kept more people home. With each succeeding administration the situation grew worse, and more and more Mexicans sought economic opportunity in the U.S.

While our government was indifferent to the plight of the Mexican people, the Mexican worker spoiled many U.S. industries. Do you want someone to work 60 minutes an hour and not complain - to the contrary, be grateful for the job at half the rate paid domestic workers? Hire Mexicans. Do you want someone to pick vegetables in temperatures over 100 degrees? Hire Mexicans. Do you want someone to pour hot tar on roofs in the heat of summer? Hire Mexicans. Do you want someone to clean better than 20 hotel rooms a day? Hire Mexicans. Do you want someone to clean over 30,000 square feet of office space in a shift? Hire Mexicans.

Fox's administration is well aware of the U.S. dependence on low-wage, hard-working Mexicans and feels he has a strong hand insisting that Mexicans already here be granted residency, and create a guest-worker program allowing several hundred thousand more workers to legally enter the U.S.

This again lets the Mexican government off the hook from investing on job creation infrastructure, while gaining close to $20 billion annually on remittances sent home by Mexicans in the U.S.

So let's hear from Mexico. What are you going to do to better the life of your own people so they won't have to leave?

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