I am sick to death of the Catholic Chuch!!!!


Will Rainford: Rep. Sali doesn't understand the purpose of a country's consulate
READER'S VIEW: Mexican Consulate



BY WILL RAINFORD - Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 04/08/08


Like Don Quixote, Rep. Bill Sali charges about, fighting dragons where there are none.
Recently, he denounced the creation of a Mexican consulate in Idaho. His claim is that, were a Mexican consulate to be established in Idaho, our state would be flooded with undocumented immigrants. And so, he has taken upon himself the fight against the establishment of the consulate in Boise.

But what may be politically good for Rep. Sali is not good economically for the state of Idaho. After all, Idaho and Mexico are strong economic partners, with Idaho establishing a trade office in Jalisco, Mexico, our sister city south of the border.

A Mexican Consulate in Idaho would further strengthen this economic partnership. Billions of dollars in trade flow back and forth between Idaho and Mexico. Annually, Idaho's produce and products earn more than $100 million south of the border. That's a whole lot of cheese, potatoes and wheat, not to mention hundreds of other commodities sold to Mexico. In the Magic Valley alone, farmers enjoyed the sale of more than $1.7 million in bean seeds to Mexico. Mexico is Idaho's second largest trade partner. Do we really want to stifle that trade as a result of our elected congressman's political posturing?

Consulates, Mexico's or others,' are not in the business of breaking the laws of the United States. They do not ferret undocumented immigrants in under our noses. Too much is at stake for them to do so.

Rep. Sali seems to believe that Mexico is not to be trusted; that the consulate is an agent of the enemy; that the consulate is the haven of undocumented immigrants. Nothing could be further from the truth.

What is the truth about the purpose and function of foreign consulates? They are intended to assist the citizen of the represented country in official relation to the United States and the host state.

In Idaho, that means the Mexican consulate would facilitate the rights and responsibilities of its citizens living here.

Over 150,000 Latinos, most of whom come from Mexico, now live and work in Idaho. Their combined economic contribution to the state well exceeds $10 billion annually. Less than 2 percent of immigrants from Mexico are undocumented. In many cases, the "illegality" of their presence stemmed from paperwork that had expired due to the excessive "backlogs" in the current immigration process, versus falsification of documentation. And in cases where documents were falsified, the immigrant could have made legal choices were a representative from the Mexican government available to assist.

The Mexican consulate is an official presence of the Mexican government. We would be bringing one of our largest trade partners here to help facilitate trade and commerce, while ensuring the rights and responsibilities of its citizens are upheld. We need such a presence in Idaho.

Rep. Sali sees dragons where there are only windmills. Unfortunately, he misleads his constituents who need the economic windmills he seeks to slay.

Let us welcome and embrace one of our major trade partners in our state, including its thousands of hard working, family-loving immigrants who call Idaho home.

Will Rainford is the legislative advocate, Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/readersop ... 45635.html

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