http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impr ... ?var=27330

Hatred and retaliation won't fix the migration problem
BY KELLY ARTHUR GARRETT/The Herald Mexico
El Universal
Lunes 19 de diciembre del 2005

What a sad commentary on the state of the migration policy debated when asimple call for bilateral cooperation loosens an avalanche of anti-Mexico vitriol from misguided Americans who confuse sword rattling with patriotism.

Two weeks ago in this space I wrote about how disappointed most Mexicans and many Americans were when U.S. President George Bush's recent speech on immigration reform dwelt almost exclusively on unilateral enforcement and punishment. The e-mails hummed in, almost unanimous in their negativity - toward me, not Bush.

The notion that Mexico and the United States both have roles to play in working out a regional labor-flow agreement to end the chaos hardly seems controversial. Bush himself has said almost as much in the past. But the mere suggestion that Mexico and the United States should work together to solve this problem struck dozens of e-mailers as advocating surrender to an invading enemy. "Is this another threat from Mexico?" one correspondent wanted to know.

Another informed me that undocumented immigrants from Mexico "are calling for the overthrow of this government, language and culture, and for the eviction of all Europeans from this land," and went on to characterize the situation this way: "Both the illegal inhabitation and treasonous language are acts of war and should be treated as such."

Hmmm. The language of these responders was not only bellicose but often insulting. One typically uncouth e-mailer from Illinois accused President Fox personally of "pimping millions of Mexicans to greedy industrialists in exchange for a payoff of $1.5 billion per month."

Another, from the state of Washington, took a macabre turn: " . . . perhaps if a few thousand die trying to cross from Sonora into Arizona because of dehydration and heat-stroke or exposure to the elements, maybe the people will start taking control of Mexico for its people, instead of just running away."

An especially excitable couple let me know the consequences of advocating a cooperative approach: "If you are an American citizen, you have committed treason by supporting such behavior. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you should be included in those retaliated against in an act of war."

Mercy! As a permanent Mexican resident with a U.S. passport, I'll be both hanged as a traitor and shot as an enemy combatant if these two get their way.

My initial intention was to refrain from sharing these love letters. Why give these yahoos a bigger forum? And why risk promoting the impression that their mean-spiritedness is typical of Americans of any political stripe?

But we have to be realistic here. Their rhetoric may be more over-the-top, but these folks reflect a growing â€â€