I do not think I have commented on politics since the election of Obama. I have avoided talking about immigration since it is a polarizing issue in which a person is either a racist or a foreign insurgent depending on which side you take. I must also necessarily view people entering from Mexico as either illegal immigrants or the vulnerable poor. There is however, an issue which I think is worth a short blog post.
Imagine that it is the 1960s. We are deeply embroiled in the civil rights turmoil. The dixiecrats in the south are still pulling for Jim Crow, while representatives from various groups are campaigning for reform for what they see as racial injustice. The arguments are deeply impassioned on both sides.
Then, one day, a representative from South Africa comes before congress. He lectures the dixiecrats and anyone else who supports Jim Crow. He, a foriegner, has important insight on American domestic policy. He says the dixiecrats must change their mind and change their laws. Jim Crow, he explains, is a racial injustice in the United States. "All people are created equal," he says. Yes, he is a representative from South Africa -the country with the apartheid.
This is somewhat analogous for today. President Calderon of Mexico spoke before the American Congress on our immigration policy. McClintock, who made me proud to be in California, responded firmly, even-handedly, but with clear indignation. Among other things he noted: 1) It is rather rude for a foreign official to lecture another nation on its domestic policy. 2) Mexico's immigration policy is harsh and far more exclusionary than anything the United States has ever held, and consequently 3) The Mexican government is hypocritical.
Mexico's immigration policy, in my opinion, hurts the cause of its immigrants here. Calderon's rudeness does not help the poor of his country. If immigration rights "know no borders" or if "God created the earth for everyone" than that applies to Mexico too.
Much of Central America thinks of Mexico as arrogant and jingoistic. I am beginning to understand why.
