Of Justice and Immigration

There is no justice in deporting illegal immigrants and there is no justice in amnesty. We have seen the dearth of just or humane solutions to our immigration issues. There have been no SOLUTIONS of any stripe. So we need to connect the dots here. Ask some obvious questions. Why does anyone come to this country illegally, risk the journey to live in virtual slavery with no say, no rights and substandard wages? They live in poverty we can't even imagine, unable to provide for themselves or their family in the most minimal way. What I discovered about Mexico, poverty and how this problem will never go away until we find a real RESOLUTION is below the fold.

Mexico is the other Democracy with whom we share a border. Their population is about 106 million. Mexico is a nation of the very rich and the very poor with no real middle class. The problem of no middle class plays out in the lack of a robust economy , their inability to provide jobs and their export economy. As of 2000 53% of the population lives on less than $2 a day, the extremely poor 24% live on less than $1 a day. 63% live in one room, 41% are without running water, 34% have no electricity and 19% of all workers will never ever find a job. Mexico needs to create nearly 20 MILLION jobs and really no way to do it.

Mexico is a country rich in resources and people. They have a free market economy, which is  largely  trade dependent to survive.  The Government recognizes the need to increase their ability to export  all the goods they can but are hindered by a mix of modern and antiquated production methods. While industry and agriculture in the private sector is growing by leaps and bounds, it is not growing fast enough to adequately provide for a solid economic future.The Government's ongoing financial problems create funding issues for their universities, this means no research to find solutions and no jobs for their technically educated citizens.

The US buys roughly 85% of Mexico's exports including being the third largest provider of oil to this country. Oil and gas provide fully 1/3 of Mexico's revenue. Because Mexico's economy is so closely tied to the US when our business sector tanks Mexico's economy tanks too. Economic growth under the best circumstances is less than 2% year over year.

In 1992 the Mexican Constitution was amended to allow ownership communal farms to go to the farmers. The hope had been larger more economically viable farms would result. Because the Government continues to subsidize communal farms the move to land ownership has been painfully slow. 3.5 million farmers are trying to survive on several programs rife with corruption at the government level and still people go hungry.

I live in a country that pays farmers not to grow crops. We need to share our know how with Mexico. We need to show Mexican farmers how to not only modernize their farming methods on land they OWN, but how to form farmer co-ops. No guest worker program here, but rather a guest helper/expert program as we export to Mexico what we know about building a strong agricultural economy.

Mexico wants to increase their natural gas and oil exports. While the only petroleum company is a Government protected monopoly, there is no reason we couldn't help. Pemex provides 1/3 of all  the Mexican Government 's revenue and it is crippling them. They need to be able to find new oil reserves, increase their over all production. There is a possibility Fox will allow foreign investment in Pemex. A logical venture to me with increased agricultural production a joint program to produce E85 ethanol and or bio-diesel, this might be done as separate venture with Pemex.

American companies so willing to ship jobs to India and elsewhere should consider shipping some of those jobs to Mexico and pay real wages to start building a middle class. Microsoft is sending 3000 IT jobs to India when the technically trained in Mexico  are unemployed. International studies show for every dollar we spend creating jobs off shore $1.46 in new economic value is created for the lucky country. Its not just Microsoft, it is thousands of companies who should be looking south to build new factories. I look at the list on Lou Dobbs and wonder why a glass factory can't be built in Mexico or a furniture factory or car parts plant or any number of businesses who have chosen to spread the wealth outside our hemisphere.

I believe it is doable, there only has to be the will to make it better and we have already trained between 11 and 20 million Mexicans with useful skills so they can go home and help build their country.