Thread: Consider an open border with Mexico

http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2006/0 ... edit01.txt

Consider an open border with Mexico

John Trumbo, the sheriff of Umatilla County, has asked Mexico to pay for the upkeep of inmates from that country who came to the United States illegally. It’s a good occasion once again to address the relationship between the U.S. and our neighbor to the south.

Mexico will not, of course, pay Umatilla County anything. It has no more reason to do so than does any other country whose citizens come to the United States and then get arrested.

In addition, as the Mexican consul general in Oregon properly pointed out, if some Mexican citizens add to the cost of the Pendleton jail, other Mexican citizens also add to the revenue of the government there by working in the economy, earning and spending money and paying taxes. So as far as the county and the state are concerned, the money angle is probably a wash.

Trumbo’s request, though, has indirectly opened another line of inquiry: Why don’t Mexico and the United States cooperate more broadly on a lot of things so that the question of the border would matter less?

We have the North American Free Trade Agreement, which links the economies of the United States, Mexico and Canada. But this arrangement doesn’t seem to extend to the movement of people.

If it did, there would be no such person as an illegal alien from Mexico — or Canada — in the United States. Instead, citizens of each would be free to move from any one of the three countries to one of the others. They could live where they wanted and work wherever they were qualified to work, or where their labor was wanted and needed. In fact, Mexico already allows Americans to come in and stay indefinitely if they can support themselves.

This isn’t such a radical notion. Europe has worked out something like it with the European Union. As far as trade and the movement of people are concerned, borders have disappeared. But the countries themselves continue to exist. Europeans still live in their same old countries and under their same old laws, with some modifications to promote continental unity.

Look at the potential benefits if we did something similar in North America. No more hassling of Hispanics in Oregon. No more building of fences along the border. No more deaths of migrants in the Sonora Desert. No more disputes over whether Oregon and other states should issue driver’s licenses. Reforms in Mexico (we must hope) to raise living standards of those people who now feel their only choice for economic survival is to sneak into the United States.

Sure, there are all kinds of potential pitfalls. But if borders can be erased in a continent that includes economies as diverse as Sweden and Sicily, North America should be able to do the same. (hh)

http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2006/0 ... edit01.txt


Open borders? Call a doctor!

By Hasso Hering
Albany Democrat-Herald



In last Sunday’s paper, I was wondering about the possibility of changing our relationship with Mexico and Canada in a way similar to what the European Union has done, with the main result being no restrictions on moving across borders.

Around the mid-valley the suggestion went over with a soft thud. Nothing happened.

But across the country, some people were ready to take umbrage, and by Monday morning I had a bunch of responses in the Democrat-Herald’s e-mail inbox (news@dhonline.com).

Here’s a sampling.

From Manassas, Va., someone wrote: “I don’t know who authored that opinion piece — but it is just about the most naive piece of prose I have ever read on the topic ... A very weakly thought-out and presented article, but obviously from someone desperate to show their enthusiastic support for the invasion of the U.S. by a population that is intentionally being driven northward by its government for one sole purpose — to partake of the economic ‘fountain’ that is our economy... .”

Another correspondent, Lance Sjogren, wrote from San Pedro, Calif.:

“Your analogy between North America and the European Union is invalid in my view. The disparity between the standard of living in the United States and Mexico is vastly wider than that of the European countries. You indicate some benefits to open borders and indicate that there may also be drawbacks. Let me suggest what I believe are a couple of the drawbacks: 1. A huge drop in wages for working-class Americans. 2. A massive increase in taxes to provide public services for the millions of additional Mexicans who would move to the United States.”

I also heard from someone in Santa Barbara:

“Good grief! I’m about to flee California for Oregon because it has turned into a Third World garbage pit, a la Mexico. Sorry, the data supports it, however. I suggest you take off your blinders and wake up. Massive Third World immigration is a loser for America’s working folks, especially the working poor blacks. Please, take the time to go beyond knee-jerk liberalism and look at the facts/data about the impact on communities.”

And from Nuevo, Calif., there was this suggestion:

“Would your publisher please contact a doctor for the person that wrote ‘Consider an open border with Mexico’? The author sounds like he needs a good long vacation.”

Well, thanks to all of them for their input.

While it would be nice if people read our Sunday paper from coast to coast, I kind of doubt that that’s the case.

Instead, I’m guessing my correspondents belong to some kind of an interest group with an e-mail setup that lets them know when anything affecting immigration issues or Mexico appears anywhere on the Web.

I think this because they all referred to the column as being headlined “Consider an open border with Mexico.”

“Think about an open border” is all the headline on Sunday’s column actually said.

Hering has been editor of the Democrat-Herald since 1978.