Thread: Grass is greener on other side of Rio Grande

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/mexico ... d1aef.html

Scott Stroud: For Mexico's poor, grass is greener on other side of Rio Grande

REYNOSA, Mexico — The screeching about the grave threat that amnesty for immigrants poses reached a crescendo as Senate leaders reached an immigration agreement with the Bush administration earlier this month.
The noise died down only a little when the deal fell apart.

My favorite part came after that, in an e-mail about "illegal alien invaders," which conjured up images of little green men. Most of the others adopted a slightly less strident tone.

"What part of illegal don't they understand?" was a common refrain. One diatribe invoked Christians as embattled stalwarts of righteousness, so easy to pick on but dedicated to doing what's right in this and other instances.

As it happened, I was in Reynosa, just across the border from McAllen, while the Senate debate was raging. What I saw there left me thinking both sides have missed an essential point.

In the colonias I visited, only a few of the houses had running water; fewer still had working toilets. The dirt roads were rutted, and electricity to some homes was jury-rigged in a way that wouldn't pass any housing code I've seen.

Government there doesn't seem to do anything well. Garbage is hauled off by horse-drawn cart. Some children attend school, but only if their families can pay $300 for uniforms and books. Most can't.

The poverty there makes San Antonio's poorest neighborhoods look appealing. The government seems too crippled and dysfunctional to offer things we Americans take for granted. The people I asked about it said basic human services are a distant ideal.

Distant, that is, until they cast their eyes across the Rio Grande.

To those asking, "What part of illegal don't you understand?" I'd pose another question: What would inspire you to leave your home and family, swim across a river, walk across a desert and immediately become an outlaw in a country where you hardly know anyone and don't speak the language?

Elias Lee Matter, who volunteers for a program called Faith Ministry, which builds houses, provides medical care and offers scholarships for residents of Reynosa, has seen many leave the colonias.

"They want what's best for their families," he said. "They want the American dream."

The point both sides have missed in the heat of the immigration debate is that any effort to solve the problem in America must address deeper problems south of the border. If it doesn't somehow deal with economic development in Mexico, it likely will fall short.

Measures that don't — building a wall, launching a crackdown — treat the symptom but not the cause. Anyone desperate enough to emigrate will find a way.

For those who call themselves Christians, though, the principle at work doesn't stop at "What part of illegal don't you understand?" It also extends to "Love your neighbor as yourself."

That means weighing what you would do if your children were born into lives of hopeless squalor that hard work alone couldn't fix.

So if you couldn't feed them or meet their most basic needs, what would you do?

Would you cross that river?

It seems like a boo hoo story...because I have lived on several reservations and many of the traditional families chose to live without running water or eletricity...and the roads are all dirt...everyone looked out for the others...and no one wanted to leave..heck they felt sorry for the fools living in cities..they could not understand why anyone would want to be surrounded by concrete and bad air

Vincente Fox told Bush that there would have been a civil war in Mexico if Bush wouldn't have invited all of them here. I know that the word spread fast that Bush would not interfere if all of Mexico came here.
I believe that there needs to be a civil war in Mexico. The Mexican people need to free themselves of there corupt government. They have oil, they have the oceans and they could be a very sucessful nation if there government was not so corupt.
That being said what is the difference between Vincente Fox and George Bush?
Not a darn thing. Bush is selling his people out and the Mexican Govenment already did.
We are going to look like them in 20 years if this goes through.
We are under a dictator ship and I think there a whole lot of Americans who are beginning to see that things are out of control here.

I'd fight and petition MY government to help/fix the problem. I am a Christian and would NOT want to set a bad example for my children by stealing (breaking in to another country) and then once there teach them to think it is okay to do because it benefits us. You would also be teaching your child to keep secret the fact of your illegality which again is wrong,then to send your child to school would be teaching that it's okay to steal the educational funds of another country(money set aside for a legal citizens child). I could go on but, I think you get my point.
As a Christian I/you should love our neighbor as ourselves.I would also like to point out ROMANS 13:1-about obeying the government.

Live the law of the land. Everyday hispanic children watch there parents break laws. I watch it next door to me. Switching license plates, smuggling in more immigrants, it goes on and on. These children already know how to break laws. They are growing up watching them get broken daily. Nothing will change if they stay here.
One thing is for certain. This will all end if this vote goes through. It will all end when the United States is a third world country like Mexico. People flee third world countries. That is when this will end.

Someone hand me a bucket. I understand that Mexico is in Bad shape. They need to take on their government and demand better conditions. Their infrastructure is in deplorable shape, yet they have one of the largest oil reserves in the world. Hmm, sounds like a corrupt government they need to deal with. It is not up to the American people to improve their lifestyle, it is theirs.