Titanic Post

Immigration is real in southern New Mexico. Living only 90 miles from the Mexican border, there is nothing academic about it: they are here. Traditionally, people come and go between Old and New Mexico. There are ties between Mexican Mexicans and Mexican Americans going back for centuries and to them the border is no barrier. What’s more, Mexicans were here before we “Anglos” even thought about gettin’ here, but that’s beside the point. Mexican citizens come here to enjoy the cool of the mountains in the summer time. They visit our Space Museum and our zoo. Some come to visit relatives and others come to work on the ranches and farms. Others work construction jobs such as brick laying, roofing, and cement finishing. This is not only because they work for less, but also because there is a shortage of skilled workers here since the demise of trade schools and public schools’ insistance on academic preparation

Yet illegal immigration is a problem and we have to deal with it. Although it is estimated that over 80 percent of immigrants are paying state, local and federal taxes, government is nervous that they are not registered anywhere. Our governments seem to have control issues that cloud their abilities for rational thought. Hence the scattered, but mostly stupid solutions being offered. We can follow some Republicans and make felons out of the 12 million illegals here now. That would be good for the growing prison industry and would create many well paying jobs. All you would have to do is keep fellow humans in a cage. The Democrats don’t seem to know what to do, but rest assured it would be a humane solution that would leave a warm and fuzzy feeling and eventually further alienating most Americans. President Bush wants to let them stay, pay a fine, and become citizens so they can continue to serve our business interests. He knows how much American businesses depend on cheap labor and that cheap labor will help keep other wages low. Remember! Raising the minimum wage is class warfare. Divide and Conquer? Apparently not so much.

Looking at what’s behind the recent surge in immigration from Mexico, you need look no further than NAFTA, IMF, and the World Bank. The North American Free Trade Agreement made it illegal for Mexico to subsidize crops grown to feed their population, such as corn and beans, making it impossible for many farmers to make a living. In addition, the IMF and World Bank make loans to Mexico, Central and South America. In order to service these loans these countries must grow crops for export. There are also strings attached to the loans, such as land reform, whereby poor farmers were forced into factories and the remaining farmers forced to buy seed, fertilizer, and farming equipment from American corporations. Now many of the factories that moved to Mexico from the US have moved to China, leaving even more Mexicans without work and nowhere to go but north. All these factors combined are helping the rich get richer and the poor… and we can thank President Clinton for flim-flamming us with NAFTA.

Divide and Conquer! Get the working class to blame Mexicans for low wages! That’s how we do things here. So, Workers of America, instead of the knee-jerk reactions like building walls and putting militias on the border, look beyond the invading hordes to who’s really behind the problem and, yes, it’s yet again the corporate driven foreign and domestic policies of our once great nation. Please realize that we have more in common with Mexican immigrants than with the CEOs of Monsato and ADM. The solution to the immigration problem is to undo our manipulations of foreign countries (and our very own US of A) and to actually help them to become economically viable instead of obedient customers to big business.

Note: American corporations are required by law to maximize profits for their share holders and to work for the common good.

I sincerely hope that this essay has not favored one party over the other in any way as it is my sincere intention to impart my disdain and frustration to them all.