The Mexican President Visits America
I remember talking politics with Felipe Calderón eight years ago at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, where we were both mid-career students.
This week, Calderon returned to our alma mater in a different capacity: as president of Mexico.
It was part of a quick swing though the United States that — besides the Harvard speech — included stops in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.
Calderón’s visit was meant to focus attention on the Mexican immigrant community in the United States, and our guest set the tone early by passing up the chance to meet with President Bush or address Congress. Instead, he chose
grassroots appeals to governors, activists, and immigrant groups.
All of this may have taken place on U.S. soil, but it was designed to send a message to Calderón’s constituents at home in Mexico. The message: “I hear you.”
Calderón is earning praise at home for reforming the tax system and launching a $25 billion public works initiative to build highways, bridges, and other projects. But he is also getting criticism for not being vocal enough in protesting what many Mexicans see as the harsh and unfair treatment of their sons and daughters, mothers and fathers in the United States.
It’s a new world south of the border. It used to be that Mexicans who stayed in Mexico didn’t give a thought to those who fled to the United States for a better tomorrow. Now they think about them all the time, and they’re demanding that their leaders think about them too — and defend them against what they see as abuse, racism, and exploitation by los Americanos.
Remember, CNN reaches into Mexico and so our friends to the south are well acquainted with el Lou Dobbs.
At first, Calderón didn’t seem to understand that part of his responsibility as president was to serve not just the 110 million Mexicans who live in Mexico but also the millions more who live in the United States. In his first year in office, he focused on fighting drug cartels and investing in Mexico’s poorest regions so, ideally, people can find enough opportunity south of the border that they don’t have to go north of it.
But Calderón figured out in a hurry that Mexicans also care a great deal about their loved ones to the north and remain in their debt. And he’s playing catch up. Last year alone, Mexican migrants in the United States sent home $23 billion in remittances, or almost twice what Mexico took in from tourism.
That money goes into private hands, but it soon becomes public funds. Grandma gets a few dollars through Western Union or a bank deposit. But Grandma doesn’t put the money in her mattress. She pays rent, buys groceries, and pays her electric bill. And so the money goes everywhere and keeps the Mexican economy humming along.
Calderón understands this perfectly. And while he assured the audience at Harvard that he has no interest in sending more Mexicans to the United States and that he only wants to protect those already here, you’d have to be incredibly naïve to believe that. Mexico has no real economic incentive to secure the border and stop the cash flow.
But everything comes at a price. And the price for Mexico is that it is losing — perhaps forever — millions of its most daring and selfless citizens, who now find themselves in a foreign land facing a wave of public sentiment that is becoming increasingly choppy.
They need a defender — even if it happens to be, ironically, the president of the country that cast them afloat.
Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union Tribune, a nationally syndicated columnist, a frequent lecturer and a regular contributor to CNN.com.
Felipe Calderón and the Mexican government are hypocrites. They wish to guilt trip us regarding Mexico’s illegal immigrants into our country—while treating their own like pure filth! Calderón is talking out of both sides of his mouth. The president of Mexico is a very dishonest man. We should no longer allow him to pull the wool over our eyes. He richly deserves to be ridiculed.
So they are here and demand on one hand citizenship[or the privileges of citizenship] and on the other hand protection of the Mexican flag. There is a name for this sort of dual identity of convenience. It is called colonization. Calling those of us who object to this head you win, tails you win biggots/racists is why although still a conservative I am no longer a Republican. Let McCain win without us.
Correction: Daniel Ortega, Marxist President of Nicaragua not El Salvador. Anyway Daniel smiles and says , “Vive Le revelucion de Estados Unidos.
Oops. Posted in wrong column, but while I’m here. I wouldn’t trust the Mexican political hiearchy or the justice system. Calderon sounds a lot like Corleone. Remember this if you ever travel there. You are not just a tourist but you are also a mark for the Mexican police. Here’s how it goes. A false charge that will disappear for 50 bucks. No citation. No reciept. No record whatsoever of the charge. I’ll let you figure out where that 50 goes. Been there. Done that.
Amazing.
What about the Americans from Mexico? Dont they feel discriminated against when they pay all of those pesky American taxes while the illegals can freely send money to their homeland?
These people do not want to be citizens. They want the economic freedom of America and remain Mexican. This is not how it should
be.
How would Americans react to any other nationality (try Arabs) occupying us illegally and sending all of their earnings back home.
It’s time for Mexico to stop lobbying the United States to change our immigration policies! Mexico should not be allowed to defend the interests of its people who have illegally entered our country and broken our laws! Mexico would never tolerate the U.S. engaging in Mexico’s politics, so please stop engaging in America’s politics!
Calderon is just looking after his own ass -all that money in the Harvard coffers taught him something I suppose. People on both sides of the border need a litlte education in economics – the most precious resource a nation has are not natural resources, it is PEOPLE. He wants to come north of the border and claim them for Mexico. I say let us one up Calderon and Mexico. Let us legalize and nationalize them the way they nationalized their oil because it was in their territory. Let these hardworking, family-oriented, Christian-based, highly-motivated people become Americans, pay taxes, learn to love America and adopt our values and culture in the next generation. We will be the richer for it.
No one has mentioned the lack of a two way street between Mexico and the U.S. If an American drove down to Mexico without a proper VISA, moved in, took a job and sent money back to the U.S., they would be put in jail and deported. Mexicans can own land here in the U.S., Americans can’t do the same in Mexico.
If we’re going to get along with our neighbor, we’d better find a way to make this a two way street. Find a legal path for Mexicans to work here (and for Americans to stay in Mexico, if they desire). Limit the number of work permits to make sure Americans don’t lose jobs. When the deal comes down with Obama, Hillary or McCain next year we need to hold their feet to the fire to get an equitable deal with Mexico, too. It isn’t just about ten million illegals.
The poster above(ckitze) is very close to the truth.The policia put you in jail and hold you for ransom. It is a business in which they extort money from Americans and justify screwing gringos with a shrug, a grin and a “you deserve it” attitude.
That is the Mexican attitude in general toward Americans.
They call it justice.
The bottom line is this- Calderon does not want to stop the illegal flow of Mexicans into the US. Money talks and that’s where his loyalty lies. The vast majority of the Mexicans entering our country illegally don’t want to be Americans. Did anyone pay attention to the rallies in our streets? Did anyone notice the Mexican flags they were waving and the placards they were holding telling us to get out?
No nation can exist under multiculturilism. See Europe. The left is constantly shoving multiculturilism and diversity in our faces and quite frankly not all cultures are equal. No, I’m not a racist, just a realist.
Anyone who believes the number of illegals in this country to be 10 million is either incredibly naive or just an optimist. The figure is more like 20 to 30 million. I live in one of the largest counties in the US, Harris County, and in the last three years illegals have run up $585 million dollars in unpaid healthcare in Harris County alone! Who do you think is going to be coughing up this money? If you guessed Harris County taxpayers, you guessed right. I’m fed up with the open borders zealots shouting racism for a very serious problem.
Calderon has absolutely no business telling US taxpayers how to spend their money or how to enforce US law. He should practice what he preaches and stop exporting their poverty problems and criminals across the border. Americans need to wake up!
It not just about money. As much as everyone seems to want to deny the situation we also have a serious problem vis-a-vis the ReConquista “Return Aztalan” Mexiqaeda.
There are literally millions of people that have illegally entered the US or who are children of illegals who have been taught and have a faith-like belief that they can outbreed “the Gabacho’s” and drive us off the continent.
Calderon’s “hostile Mexican attitudes” comments are codespeak for this being the general Mexican attitude as well.
Folks we are being invaded by hostile invaders. Our politicians are ignoring (or counting on!!!) these people for putting them into office and will give the rest of us up to get there.
If you doubt the violence that these invaders are capable of, do some real hard looking beyond the media smokescreen and you will see violent attacks on our Border Patrol, local police officials, landowners, the Minutemen, and anyone else who becomes an impediment to their invasion.
Michelle Malkin has a permenant bodyguard and had to leave California to avoid serious death threats. I imagine Lou Dobbs does, too.
There are no differencer between these folks in their hostility to us and Osama bin Laden and it appears this will only become apparent when it is too late.
Mexican politicians need to stop lecturing the US and get to work fixing their own damn country. If the elites would allow some privatization, foreign investment, and reform of their corrupt institutions, Mexico wouldn’t need to export their problems to the US. Fairly simple market reforms would cause an economic boom that would pull a lot of illegals, and maybe even some legals, back to Mexico. We are doing Mexico ZERO favors by letting the least of them flee to our country.
What motivation do Mexico’s corrupt politicians have to reform?
None.
Instead they are rewarded. American open borders advocates are actually accomplices to the corrupt Mexican State.The Bushs, McCains, Kennedys, and Grahams of the world are their allies. The billions of dollars of illegal alien remittances back to Mexico is a huge cash cow to them. It’s far more likely that Mexican corruption will poison American society than it is that Mexico will reform.
We already see the corruption in DA’s like Johnny Sutton who grant immunity to drug dealers while prosecuting Border Patrol agents for doing their job.
Mexico and Mexicans both foreign and domestic have learned the art of “laying a guilt trip” on America and American politicians. “If you don’t do things in a way that we approve of, then you are nothing but a RACIST.
They’ve no doubt learned this technique from observing all the mileage blacks have gotten from it.
If any minority wants a politician to roll over and play dead, all they have to do is accuse him of being a racist.
Its the human equivalent of saying “bad dog”.