President Bush visits Mexico next week, and just in time. Mexico
plans to be tougher on illegal crossings
– not into the United States, but from Central America – because
too many migrants are taking Mexican jobs. In contrast, Mexico last
year began to give maps to its citizens showing the safest illegal
routes into the U.S.
President Bush visits Mexico next week, and just in time. Mexico plans to be tougher on illegal crossings – not into the United States, but from Central America – because too many migrants are taking Mexican jobs. In contrast, Mexico last year began to give maps to its citizens showing the safest illegal routes into the U.S.
No wonder many Americans have difficulty with moves in Congress to provide a “path to citizenship” for many of the estimated 12 million illegal aliens in the US. A bill to do just that, revised from last year’s failed attempt, may be introduced in coming days.
But until the U.S. can demonstrate strong, long-term enforcement of its borders and crack down on illegal hiring of illegal migrants, why should Congress create yet another incentive for unlawful crossings?
Perhaps during his visit Bush can persuade Mexico’s new president, Felipe Calderon, to speed up reforms that would lift Mexico’s economy and curb this embarrassing mass exodus of its citizens that only breeds more illegality. Mexico also needs to be as serious about patrolling its northern border as it is the southern one.
To its credit, the Bush administration appears to have gotten the message about the prime need for immigration law enforcement. Job-hunting Mexicans have also gotten the idea. Fewer have attempted to cross the border, leading to a marked drop in arrests – more than 25 percent.
“This is the kind of tangible indication of progress that the American people have been waiting for,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a Senate panel last week.
Chertoff also indicated a new administration coolness toward legalizing the illegals. “We cannot give those who are here illegally because they’ve broken the law a leg up and an advantage over those who have played by the rules,” he said.
Congress needs to tackle immigration issues in stages, as even Sen. Dianne Feinstein now proposes. The first stage should be certification of border security and rigorous sanctions on employers. Bush has taken good steps. The next president, and the law-enforcement bureaucracy, need to show a sustainable track record.
This is not being anti-immigrant or anti-business. Congress can lift quotas for legal migration to bring in more workers from many nations.
Better enforcement will be difficult. Last week, the federal government had to delay by 20 months enforcement of the 2005 Real ID Act that requires states to adopt secure driver’s licenses that would help spot illegal aliens and terrorists as well as curb identity fraud. States are balking at the mandated changes.
Congress should not get tangled up over how to legalize illegal migrants, but needs to first show that current laws can be enforced.
