Qui vult decipi, decipiatur – Let him who wishes to be deceived,
be deceived.
Who controls the border between Mexico and the United States of America? Mexico?
What is behind the constant stream of statements issued by Mexican officials,
especially President Vicente Fox, that are influencing U.S. legislation –
national, state, and local? Why does Mexico stridently object to every action
by U.S. citizens to protect U.S. borders from illegal entries by undocumented
aliens? Does Mexico seek to reclaim lands ceded to the United States in 1848 at
the close of the Mexican-American War by re-colonizing the region?
Official and unofficial Mexican interference with U.S. sovereignty and internal
affairs is unprecedented in history – to the point that the United States
of America verges on becoming the vassal of Los Estados Unidos de Mexico.
The Mexican government and Mexican criminal gangs (some say they are one and
the same) have dropped all pretense of recognizing the legality of the Mexican-US
border, let alone the U.S. government's feeble attempt at border enforcement.
Mexico acts as though the United States of America is its unruly colony.
The Mexican government publicly berates and threatens U.S. officials and private
individuals, who object to treating Mexican nationals as if they are U.S. citizens,
especially those in the United States illegally.
President Vicente Fox ranks among the most strident of Mexican presidents on
U.S. relations, with his demands that the United States consult Mexico on all
decisions concerning the Mexican-US border and the treatment of illegal aliens.
Fox knows well that most U.S. citizens, by choosing to ignore border problems,
fail to comprehend the impact of the nearly 30 million illegal aliens –
most of them Mexican citizens – now in the United States.
Their impact is felt not only on national security but also on natural ecosystems,
health care costs, welfare costs, and the costs of crime and incarceration.
Fox was elected to the presidency of Mexico on July 2, 2000, as the first National
Action Party (PAN) candidate, breaking the 70-year reign of the PRI (Party of
Institutional Revolution).
Upon his election, Fox began an immediate dialogue with President-elect George
W. Bush. They had become acquainted as governors of adjacent states divided by
the Rio Grande. Mexican immigration into the United States is Fox's central concern.
Mexico depends on emigration – legal and illegal – to relieve the
pressures of over-population, under-education, lack of employment opportunities,
and the desire to reclaim lost lands.
A number of Hispanic politicians admit to being members in their youth of Movimiento
Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA). Aztlan is the group's name for the U.S.
lands they seek to re-colonize. Their goal is to do away with European-American
heritage, culture, and language by sheer numbers, and they are succeeding. They
support illegal immigration to provide foot soldiers in the battle against the
gringos.
In 2000, Mexican consular offices in the United States began redefining the
"matricula consular" cards that have been issued to Mexicans living
abroad since 1870. Originally the cards were limited to obtaining consular assistance,
but the new millennial version was issued to serve as a valid form of identification.
Illegal aliens began using the cards to obtain bank accounts, drivers' licenses,
social security benefits, worker permits, and even for identification at airports.
Redefining matricula consular cards constituted a deliberate act to undermine
U.S. immigration laws. In short order, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Poland
adopted the practice and quietly began issuing their own form of matricula consular
cards. At first, the U.S. government was unable to agree on whether to accept
these cards as valid identification. The Social Security Administration and the
Internal Revenue Service accepted them, but the FBI did not.
In 2005, the U.S. Congress passed legislation effectively banning the use of
these cards as valid identification (REAL ID Act 2005). President George Bush
signed the bill into law, triggering a protest by Mexico and immigrant special
interest groups.
An earlier protest by Mexican officials had been more effective. In 2003, Mexico
protested against the U.S. Border Patrol's pilot program to test the efficacy
of flying deported Mexicans to places on the Mexican-U.S. border far from where
they were apprehended. The idea was to make illegal reentry into the United States
more difficult. Mexican officials complained that the program was disruptive to
their border communities, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security cancelled
it after a month.
Fox, assisted by U.S. immigration special interest groups, began a public campaign
to desensitize U.S. politicians and their constituents regarding unbridled illegal
immigration and a de-facto open border. In November 2003, he visited New Mexico,
Arizona, and Texas. In each state, he advocated amnesty for illegal aliens –
ignoring the prohibition by the U.S. Constitution of any state entering into a
treaty, alliance, or confederation with another nation.
In declaring that the United States and Mexico "were united by nation
and language," he referred to those lands in the western states ceded to
the United States in 1848. Speaking as though the people of New Mexico, Arizona,
and Texas were his constituents – and large numbers of Mexicans in the United
States illegally continue to vote in Mexican elections by absentee ballots –
Fox called for dual citizenship and voting rights for all Mexicans in the United
States despite their immigration status. Increasingly, absentee ballots are crossing
the border in both directions.
The Mexican government recently distributed a free comic book, entitled, "Guide
for Mexican Migrants," which tells Mexican nationals how to successfully
enter the United States illegally and how to avoid detection once there. The comic
book states that illegal aliens have the same "rights" as U.S. citizens
and to insist on those "rights".
In late 2004, Mexico's Border Czar, Arturo Gonzalez Cruz, proposed migration
policies that transcend borders, make it easier for Mexican nationals to enter
the United States, and eliminate the concept of illegal entry. In January 2005,
the Mexican government prepared a second printing of the "Migrant Guide"
despite U.S. objections. Congressman Tom Tancrado (R-CO) opined, "What would
the Mexican government do, if we encourage our citizens to violate Mexican law?"
About this same time, the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert to U.S.
citizens visiting northern Mexico because of drug-related violence and security
and safety concerns. The Mexican government protested the U.S. action. The Fox
administration implied that the U.S. travel warning was an attack on Mexican sovereignty
and that the U.S. State Department "exaggerated" the level of violence
on the Mexican-U.S. border.
He stated that crime was minimal – a conclusion contradicted in June
2005 by the assassination of the police chief of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, who was
gunned down within hours of his appointment. Fox responded by sending 1000 federal
police to Nuevo Laredo following the assassination––hardly a minimal
crime.
The crime wave on the Mexican-U.S. border, whether on the interstate in Arizona
or the U.S. Border Patrol's Laredo sector, is intertwined with drug smuggling
and people smuggling, with U.S. citizens caught in the middle. This violence is
being spread throughout the United States by Mexican, Salvadorian, Brazilian,
Chinese, and Caribbean crime cartels.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez has threatened the U.S. government
and individual U.S. citizens with various lawsuits. When Arizona citizens approved
Proposition 200 in November 2004, restricting access to state benefits for illegal
aliens, Derbez threatened to sue the State of Arizona in U.S. District Court,
disregarding the necessary legal standing.
Later in April 2005, Derbez threatened to bring criminal charges in the World
Court against the Minutemen, a grassroots effort by U.S. citizens concerned about
unbridled illegal immigration and their government's inability to control the
borders. Minutemen, who volunteer in this border-watch campaign, make no apprehensions
but inform the U.S. Border Patrol of illegal entries that they observe.
In March 2005, President Fox stated that the Minutemen project showed a disdain
for the rule of law north of the border. Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) suggested that
President Fox respect the right of the United States to defend its borders and
refrain from interfering with U.S. sovereignty.
Mexican officials and immigration special-interest groups rallied money and
people to "monitor" the Minutemen and assure that illegal aliens had
their "rights" protected. Not one incident of improper activity or "racism"
occurred, contrary to President Fox's assertions.
Mexican radicals are telling those crossing the border illegally that the southwestern
United States is actually Mexican land. Armed with this propaganda, illegal aliens
have become violent and confrontational when stopped or questioned. The result
is more assaults on U.S. Border Patrol agents and on U.S. citizens.
In the first part of 2005, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 163 acts of violence
in the Tucson sector compared with 118 for all of the previous year. At the same
time, U.S. Border Patrol agents are being told by their supervisors to stand down
and not pursue offenders. Alien smugglers know every nuance of U.S. Border Patrol
orders. Such knowledge emboldens illegal border crossers, related criminals, and
unfortunately terrorists.
The REAL ID legislation of May 2005 that will formally end acceptance by the
U.S. government of matricula consular cards as valid identification also authorizes
construction of more walls along the Mexican-US border. The first reaction by
Mexican officials was that a firm and formal complaint would be made.
The Fox administration spokesman Ruben Aguilar said that Mexico might challenge
the law before international organizations, such as the United Nations. President
Fox was enraged. In a speech shortly thereafter, he said that although he respected
U.S. sovereignty, the legislation was not the right approach.
In opposition to the legislation and in defense of Mexican migrant laborers,
Fox said that Mexicans are doing jobs in the United States that not even blacks
want to do. African-American civil rights activists demanded an apology.
The Governor of Zacatecas State of Mexico, which has one of the highest emigration
rates in Mexico, criticized the U.S. Congressional action for not solving problems.
U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) criticized the legislation, as did Senators Barbara
Boxer (D-CA) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA). At least one California historian suggests
that the senators actually represent Mexifornia, an evolving re-colonized land
mass.
Congress must accept its responsibility for the chaos on the border, Republicans
as well as Democrats. The Democrats led by Senators Kennedy, Durbin, Leahy, and
Schumer consistently vote to restrict border enforcement, support the "rights"
of illegal aliens, and oppose deportation.
Senator Kennedy's culpability dates back to his days as floor manager for the
Immigration Act of 1965 (known as the Hart-Celler Act) that opened the flood gates
of immigration – legal and especially illegal.
At the time, Senator Kennedy assured the American people, "The bill will
not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not upset the ethnic mix of our
society. It will not relax the standards of admission. It will not cause American
workers to lose their jobs" (U.S. Senate, Feb. 10, 1965).
Senator Kennedy never wavers in his support of unlimited immigration to appeal
to his one-world constituency. History has shown him to be on the wrong side of
immigration legislation in 1965, and he remains on the wrong side today.
What is the motivation of the strident and unrelenting advocates of immigration?
Could it be that the chaos of a Mexican-style governance is what the special-interest
groups desire? Why are U.S. citizens oblivious to the ongoing re-colonization
of the United States by Mexico? Are we desensitized by the propaganda of the immigrant
special-interest groups to the point that the reality of the demographics evades
us?
In Los Angeles, the KRCA-TV cable station, Noticias 62, advertises with a billboard
that touts "Los Angeles, CA" but with the CA crossed out, and MEXICO
stamped in bright red letters, accompanied by the motto, "Tu ciudad. Tu equipo"
(Your city. Your team). The station's executive vice president, Lenard Liberman,
responds, "But you just have to drive around L.A. to know that this is a
Hispanic city." The billboard in L.A. is evidence of a Mexican drive well
underway to re-colonize the United States.
James H. Walsh is a former Associate General Counsel of the Immigration
and Naturalization Service, former federal prosecutor, and a U.S. German Marshall
Fund Scholar on immigration.