Long live Porfirio Diaz!

As for Mexicans, I saw Miss Mexico on TV a few weeks ago, and based on that I can’t understand why we wouldn’t want more of them here. We could bring them in under special labor contracts, and create a futures market for trading in such contracts. If you need a worker, just buy one on the exchange at a price determined by the free market. Some workers, like Miss Mexico, might fetch a very high price.

I guess that makes me a racist and an anti-feminist pig. Oy oy oink.

Lambaste all you want against demagogues like Lou Dobbs, but the large number of illegal and large average family size of immigrants from Mexico are creating population levels that are simply unsustainable. The current population of California is roughly 39 million people. If current trends continue, our population will be 60 million by 2050. No magic wand is going to change or mitigate that short of drastic reform.

So until someone can convince me how more people in this state will improve our healthcare delivery, traffic congestion, workers wages, environment, education, and overall services delivery, I will remain more partial to the rants of Lou Dobbs than to the rants of Robert Miranda. I mean come on Robert, “. . . seeking out hungry Mexican mothers walking with starving Mexican children seeking a way to make money so that they can feed their babies before the children die of starvation.” What bullshit! When is the last time a community in Mexico was on the brink of starvation?? Unless, they are Guatemalans living in Mexico (illegally) or indigenous people who constantly get pummeled by the Mexican Government, I’m just not seeing it.

The fact is, we are all in this together. Mexican people and the Mexican government have to address overpopulation, inherent corruption and economic disparity. No longer can North America serve as a pressure valve to maintain the status quo by encouraging all those who might agitate for change to leave the country. Trust me, the government of Mexico understands how destabilizing unbridled immigration can be. As a result they aggressively enforce their immigration laws.

Moreover, Cesar Chavez led a march from the city of San Fernando to the Mexican border to protest illegal immigration. He understood all too well the impact illegal immigration was having of wages of farm workers. In 1986, Chavez was greatly conflicted over the amnesty. On one hand it was believed it might help swell the ranks of the UFW, on the other hand the increase in the supply of labor could lead to decreased wages and benefits. Well, it would appear his worst fears have been realized.

I ask the question, is there any difference between a bunch of rich white guys disobeying law trying to make a buck and a bunch of poor brown guys disobeying the law to make a buck? This tolerance of corruption eats away at the rule of law and could quite possibly leave us with a system of government that is far more corrupt than the one we live under today.

In closing, I think it is safe to say that most progressives see themselves as friends of the environment, pro union/living wage, anti corruption, and proponents of the rule of law. Hence, I feel it is irresponsible if not disingenuous for any progressive to take a blind eye to illegal immigration. The United States and in particular California have become addicted to a class cheap, exploitable labor. We must change or pay the full measure of its consequences.

By
Kevin Lynn

Seriously, you left out one of my favorite factoids in this debate, and I think it matters. Leprosy is indeed a horrific disease — if untreated. It is, if I recall correctly, the *least* contagious of all human communicable diseases. The infection is also readily treated by antibiotics. There are reasons why people were terrified of it in the past. There is no reason for this terror now, at least in places where modern medical care is available, and there is no excuse for its use to vilify people from less-developed countries.

I get really tired about the Dobbs-fuelled complaints about “diseased people from south of the border.”

Best, Mike