Thread: Fox Speaks About Immigration, Foreign Policy

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Fox Speaks About Immigration, Foreign Policy



by Tim Gallagher
Sioux City Journal

Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, said fear is guiding U.S. policy makers, specifically in the charge to build a wall between the two countries.

"People are using fear to confuse immigrants with terrorists," said Fox, who was elected in 2000. "Immigrants are not terrorists. It's false. Immigrants built this country.

"Congress should take the bull by the horns. It is a federal issue," Fox continued. "If they don't deal with it, then it will be left to local authorities, some who are extremely violent and aggressive."

Fox spoke about relations between Mexico and the U.S. at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, where he appeared as the 18th lecturer in the annual William W. Siebens American Heritage Lecture.

Buena Vista student Tara Runghee opened her question by quoting a member of Congress, presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, who has said that as president he would eliminate benefits and job prospects so illegal immigrants would not stay. Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, is a proponent of building a wall between the two nations.

Fox snorted at the name Tancredo, adding, "He should not have a Spanish name."

Fox added that he's not for open borders, either. He does not support illegality or disorder.

"Figure which of the 12 million (undocumented workers) have a job, and the rest should be sent back," said Fox. He added a caveat: "There is a human side. Families cannot be divided. To see a 2- or 3-year-old here alone while their parents are sent back to Mexico is not compassionate."

When Fox was elected in 2000, he broke a seven-decade hold the Revolutionary Institutional Party had had on the country. The former trucker driver who rose to president for Coca-Cola in Mexico and Latin America promised reform and democratization. Some argue he delivered, as the per capita income rose in Mexico while the country's debt level was reduced.

Mexico shows its buying power north of the border, he said, by purchasing more from the U.S. than Italy, France and Germany combined. Years ago, he noted, there were 85 different car models offered in Mexico. There are 850 now.

Why, then, are Mexicans still risking their lives to get out of Mexico?

"Today the Mexican average income is one-sixth of what it is in the U.S.," he said. "As long as there is that gap, people will look for a better life."

The U.S., he said, relies on Latin American labor. The U.S. needs 400,000 to 500,000 more workers each year to keep pace with job growth. The domestic working population, he added, isn't growing that rapidly here. Immigrant labor is filling the void, allowing the economy in the U.S. to expand.

"It (U.S. growth) would not be sustainable were it not for the injection of this talent," he said.

Storm Lake, in fact, is one Northwest Iowa community that has grown thanks in large part to a surge in immigration. The public school district educated a handful of minorities in the late 1980s. Caucasians are now in the minority in the schools.

Fox asked Northwest Iowans to plead with their lawmakers to spend billions not on a fence but on education and job creation.

Fox said he and President Bush were very close to reaching an immigration reform package in September 2001. The terrorist attacks on the U.S. changed everything.

"And for the past six years, all that I have heard is 'manana, manana, manana,'" said Fox, using the Spanish word for "tomorrow."

Immigration reform has waited while U.S. leaders dealt with elections at home and violence in the Middle East.

To that end, Fox said he believes U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq as soon as possible, a line that earned applause from the audience gathered in Schaller Memorial Chapel. Now that Saddam Hussein is dead, the Iraqi people, he said, should determine their own fate.

And the U.S. should return to what made it a world leader.

"The U.S. must recuperate its core values and must come back to be a leader again in the world," Fox said. "We must build bridges of communication, bridges of technology and bridges of education."

Fox, who gave another lecture Friday evening at Buena Vista, will entertain questions from the public today from 9:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Siebens Fieldhouse. Since leaving office in December, he has been speaking throughout the world. His memoir, "Revolution of Hope," was published this year.

Vicente Fox joins a distinguished list of speakers who have visited Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, for the William W. Siebens American Heritage Lecture. Past speakers include Presidents George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and F.W. de Klerk; and Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher, Shimon Peres, Benazir Bhutto and John Major.

http://www.bvu.edu/news/topnews.asp?id=749455

"Tancredo" is Italian.

When are they going to put him out of the country for causing trouble?

He was a failure at fixing his country and now he is over here telling us how to fix ours! Oh make me laugh.

Buzz off Fox.

I think he is afraid to go home. They are investigating his investments in Mexico.

Dixie

Fox is an idiot. He should go back to driving a truck. Why is he in our country telling us what we should be doing? Give it up Fox.

Originally Posted by Nouveauxpoor

To see a 2- or 3-year-old here alone while their parents are sent back to Mexico is not compassionate."

Fox is in some trouble with the Mexicans for fraud. They are accusing him of taking money that belonged to his people. That is the reason he is in the US. He is trying to avoid the Mexican Government. In a way you could say he is hiding in American, just like the rest of the illegals.