by Allan Wall
No Babu, We Don't Owe Mexicans Amnesty
September 10, 2007 01:23 PM EST

Mr. Babu Ranganathan's article "Why We Owe Amnesty to Mexicans" was recently published on "The Conservative Voice". This article contains a number of common but false arguments used to support amnesty and mass immigration. I invite Mr. Ranganathan to consider why, in fact we do not owe amnesty to Mexicans and it probably wouldn't help them anyway.

Babu begins his article with this statement: "I am Christian, Conservative, and Republican. Having said that, let me say that we are committing a great injustice in how we are dealing with Mexican immigration and the status of illegal Mexican workers in the United States."

Babu, I too am "Christian, Conservative, and Republican" and I also reside (legally) in Mexico. I encourage you to study this issue more closely and not let yourself be swayed by emotional but phony arguments.

To begin with, what "great injustice" are we committing towards illegal alien Mexicans? Babu, these are people who have no right to be in the country. We have every right - as does every nation - to control our own immigration policy. Mexico certainly does. I have to have a work permit to work legally here in Mexico. Are you complaining about that?

Then Babu goes into a big spiel about the Mexican War of 1846-1848. I have written about this elsewhere. I invite the reader to read my article about the history of that war, which gives a little more balanced picture than Babu's paragraph. Find it, and other articles, on my website, which is linked below.

However, even if Babu were completely correct in his interpretation of the history involved, to say that "We can partly correct the great injustice and wrong which we committed against Mexico by giving legal status to Mexican workers in the U.S." is ridiculous. Mexico is not poorer than the U.S. because we took the Southwest from them. It's poorer for a variety of social and historical causes, absolutely none of which will be solved by giving amnesty to lawbreakers.

Then Babu repeats a familiar argument, that Mexicans do jobs most Americans "refuse to do". No Babu, but the difference in Mexican and American wage levels means that Americans can't work for the wages Mexican illegal aliens earn, because they aren't high enough wages for American workers. That means that illegal immigration hurts low-income American workers. Does Babu care about them?

Then Babu writes that "No one is being hurt and everyone wins". Many Americans are hurt by illegal immigration, not only economically, but they are daily attacked and murdered by illegal aliens who shouldn't even be in this country, because our government refuses to deport them.

Babu repeats the famous Mexican moral values argument. That argument asserts that Mexicans have better moral values than Americans. Babu, I live in Mexico. Let me tell you, every social problem in the United States, you can find here too.

And since you mention abortion, did you know that Hispanic women in the United States have a higher abortion rate than white women? I bet you didn't, but that's what CDC statistics reveal. In other words, immigration is increasing the abortion level ! Sad, but true.

Babu says that Mexicans will assimilate just like the Irish and Italians. But there are many differences between the era in which the Irish and Italians came, a hundred years ago, and now. Back then, the U.S. believed in assimilation, not multiculturalism like today. Today the U.S. encourages immigrants not to learn English! Also, back then, the massive welfare state of today did not exist, and about a third of the immigrants went home.

Also, Babu completely ignores the fact that the Mexican government is utilizing illegal immigration to get as many Mexicans as possible out of Mexico. Why? Because it takes pressure off the Mexican government.

Does mass immigration, and the prospect of an amnesty really help Mexico? No, Babu, encouraging the emigration of Mexicans hurts Mexico. It breaks up families, it encourages Mexicans who already have work to emigrate, and it removes incentives from the Mexican government to reform Mexico's economy. So really, mass immigration is bad for both countries, and an amnesty will just encourage more of it.

No, Babu, we do NOT owe amnesty to Mexicans. It would be a horrible mistake, it would encourage more illegal immigration, and it would be bad for both countries.

Allan Wall (allan39@prodigy.net.mx">allan39@prodigy.net.mx) is an American citizen who resides in Mexico. His website

http://www.allanwall.net contains various articles on immigration and how it is viewed from south of the border.

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/27861.html