Illegal Immigration Part 2-- Vincente Fox

Since posting the first part of my thoughts on illegal Immigration last Saturday, a few things have happened to delay the second part. Kids, piano recitals, Church stuff... Newsweek follies, riots in Afghanistan... and Mexican President Vincente Fox making me feel like an idiot.

Last week, Fox stuck his foot in his mouth while talking to a group of Texas businessmen. His remarks got him in trouble on several levels as he pointed out that Mexican laborers were important to America because they were willing to do work that other Americans, and even blacks, would not do.

People climbed all over him for implying that (1) Americans were lazy, (2) American Blacks were not willing to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, (3) Mexicans had no pride and (4) Vincente Fox himself couldn't manage his own economy without sending people north.

There is some truth to what Fox says. There is plenty of work here in America which many Americans simply don't do very well at and Mexicans generally are rather good at. And these jobs tend to be the most miserable forms of physical labor we have. Vincente Fox was unfortunate enough to express these thoughts in ways that are intolerable up here-- that is, in absolute terms and in racial terms which are not only false but which may promote international and racial prejudice.

At the same time, does anybody realize how his policies have held inflation down in the U.S.?

**Our trade treaty with Mexico has kept the cost of manufactured goods-- clothing in particular-- very low.

**Cheap Mexican labor in the U.S. has kept food prices, housing prices, and service industry prices under control.

**Cheap Mexican oil, one of our biggest sources in the U.S., has kept us from being skinned alive by the Arabs and also given us more diplomatic leverage in the Middle East.

I like having Fox down there. I suspect that President Bush, knowing how much he helps us and how much he can hurt us if U.S./Mexican relations deteriorate, has made a conscious decision to accommodate Fox on the issue of illegal immigration.

I've got at least two more posts I intend to make regarding illegal immigration. One regarding crime, and the other (which I promised earlier) regarding national security.