Monday, May 8, 2006

May Day Leads to More USA-Mexico Finger Pointing


By Carlos Luken

After the “opportunity” to listen to statements by American and Mexican media pundits, government spokespersons and others, as well as the ranting of extremists from both sides of the immigration issue and both Mexico and the U.S., I feel sad, mad, proud and ashamed.

If anything the May Day demonstrations proved that immigration is capable of energizing huge popular attention and support. It’s reported that over one million protested in different U.S. cities. The sheer number of persons in solidarity with their fellow countrymen, who were able to demonstrate without restraint in an atmosphere of freedom, democracy and total peace, is something to be proud of.

The demonstrations were successful for the abrupt emergence of a rising and unified constituency. But they also opened eyes to an imminent key-voting block that could become a force to be reckoned with in future elections. As the signs boasted, “The giant awakened.”

Sadly not all of the demonstrators were there with the same convictions. Some were manipulated and used as cannon fodder for radical causes that had little to do with the immigrant’s plight, and were more disposed toward political maneuvers.

A case in point are the “La Reconquista” fanatics, who used some naive demonstrators to carry signs demanding the return of the southwest United States to Mexico. And this sparked apprehension among would-be supporters.

During the week others had stupidly attempted to popularize a Spanish language version of the National Anthem. Making matters worse it was altered for “rhyming purposes,” and only managed to create controversy and scorn among many who rightly remarked that such an act is disrespectful and would be punishable by jail in Mexico.

Still others opportunistically took advantage of the confusion and sided with the immigrants’ cause in order to further their personal agendas or to harvest future votes.

Let’s not fool ourselves, all sides of the migration quandary are wrong.

For decades governments have conveniently looked away as foreign migrants are openly encouraged to enter the Promised Land in search of the American dream. Unscrupulous business interests attract many of the migrant workers, who are trying to improve paltry existences through hard work while suffering meager salaries, unfair labor practices, persecution and unsatisfactory living conditions. Certainly undocumented immigrants are illegal, but they are also a handy means to undervalue labor costs and be more competitive.

Supporters observe that illegal immigrants are indispensable because they are willing to do jobs that most Americans reject. But the truth is that Americans are not willing to do the work because the wages are too low.

Opponents condemn immigrant’s use of social services, healthcare and education privileges as illegal because of their failure to pay taxes. Supporters counter that devious employers in fact withhold taxes and Social Security deductions, but then they wrongly do not report or transfer the withholdings as required by law.

There is a convenient invisibility. I cannot honestly accept that the mightiest nation in the world is incapable of stopping the inflow if it really wished to do so. Am I to believe that a country that can accurately pinpoint a small band of Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan is powerless to find 10 to 20 million persons within its own borders if it wills to do so?

All that needs to be done is what many independent contractors and housewives do. Simply stop at most street corners, construction sites or Home Depot stores to find them. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to follow and find the thousands of migrant farmhands who journey from harvest to harvest, from Northern California to the Imperial and Arizona Valleys and beyond, or the millions of waiters, cooks, busboys, maids, gardeners, ranch workers and other wage earners who toil in every state and industry.

The fact is that illegal immigration was willfully promoted and protected for decades. Yet now, for economic or political reasons it is being outlawed and the once useful “undocumented worker” has become an expendable “illegal alien.”

We are now pushed into a corner in trying to defend the indefensible because of governments’ consistent failures to address an issue that left unattended becomes worse by the day.

The predicament didn’t appear overnight, and it would seem that we are all accountable. But the only way to fix this crisis is to stop spinning it and pay the consequences of complacency, mismanagement and greed before it ruins more people and relationships between many countries.



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Carlos Luken, a MexiData.info columnist, is a Mexico-based businessman and consultant. He can be reached via e-mail at ilcmex@yahoo.com.