By Allan Wall
03/10/2011
[VDARE.com note: Here’s a picture of Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the Woodrow Wilson Center event in the Ronald Reagan International Center. (See video.) Note that on the stage behind him, the Mexican flag is placed in the position of honor, on "the flag’s own right" as it’s put in the US Flag Code. (This is actually in violation of the letter of federal law, though rendered unenforceable by the Supreme Court’s flag burning decisions.)
Possibly someone at the Wilson Center thought this would be an appropriate compliment to a visiting president. But it’s not appropriate anywhere on American soil. ]
Last week saw yet another Mexican presidential visit (March 2-3) It was blessedly short. Felipe Calderon was in Washington less than 24 hours. He met with President Obama, they held a press conference, he had a luncheon with corporate CEOs and another with Obama, and a meeting with Speaker of the House Boehner.
In recent years, Mexican presidents have been making regular triumphal tours of the United States, where they boldly attack our sovereignty and demand amnesty and other benefits for their countrymen who are in our country illegally:
Calderon’s speech at the press conference was predictable:
"President Barack Obama and I have held a very valuable conversation over the status of the bilateral cooperation in many aspects….we agree on the basic principles of co-responsibility.
"…We have discussed, principally, the following topics,
"First, on the international front, we have reiterated that Mexico and the U.S. are true strategic partners. This is demonstrated in our joint work on the global and regional agenda.
"Second. Regarding the border, both President Obama and myself agree that we should convert this zone into a land of opportunities and not of conflict…
"Third. On the issue of migration, President Obama has consistently recognized the contributions of the immigrants to the American economy and society. I recognize and value in all its dimension, fully, his clear and purposeful support to the promotion of a comprehensive migratory reform in this country [= amnesty] and his firm commitment to human and civil rights of the [immigrant] communities, regardless of their origin. I have expressed to him my concern over the proliferation of local initiatives contrary to the interests and the rights of the immigrant communities." [Spanish Text and YouTube video available here, English text here]
The "local initiatives" Calderon is concerned about are, of course, state laws and proposals such as Arizona’s much-hated (by Mexicans) SB1070
The fourth topic was the increasing merger of Mexico and the United States:
"Fourth. Regarding competiveness, Mexican has a regional perspective. The U.S. and Mexico can and should take advantage of the comparative advantages that make us unique as a region and that permit us to convert North America, understood as a whole, as the most competitive region of the world. I am convinced that together we can accomplish that. The North American Free Trade Agreement was a great step toward the commercial integration of the region. It generated hundreds of thousands, millions — I would dare to say, jobs, in both Mexico and the United States. And we are ready to work toward the goal of deepening and taking advantage of our connections.
"Fifth…both governments have taken the co-responsibility in the combat against organized crime."
During the question and answer period, in the discussion of gun smuggling from the U.S. to Mexico, Calderon made the curious statement that "One of the things that I suggested in our conversation, and I believe that we should examine very carefully, is if we can find some way to seal the points on the border."
It’s funny he would say that. It doesn’t really fit in with the rest of his message. Personally, I think it would be great to seal — not just "points" — but the whole border.
Later, Calderon gave a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center. There he also discussed immigration:
"Sooner or later we will need a reform of the immigrations….the migration is a natural phenomenon between both countries. In fact, it has been occurring throughout all the history of the United States and Mexico. And now the lack of a judicial framework, comprehensive and effective, has caused some states of the Union to propose their own laws."[Spanish text and YouTube]
Of course, it’s preposterous for a visiting Mexican president to say we don’t have a "judicial framework" for immigration. We do have one — he just doesn’t like it because, as open as it is, it’s not quite open enough.
Calderon employed a common routine of Mexican politicians by saying that it’s too bad that Mexicans have to emigrate but there’s no way to stop it:
"As a Mexican and as President, I don’t like to see other Mexicans risk their lives to find better opportunities in the United States….I am from Michoacan [a Mexican state home to many emigrants] and I don’t like to see our towns left with only women and old men and children. We are losing in every migrant the flower and cream of our people…"
Here, Calderon acknowledges some of the bad effects of emigration on Mexico. But if he really felt that way, why wouldn’t he shut down the border and prevent Mexicans from leaving illegally — as in fact he is required to do by Mexican law? [See Mexican Illegals Breaking Mexican Law Too!]
However, his admissions were just a prelude to this….
"…We are not against migration, but we recognize that it is a natural fact, a social phenomenon, economically natural, and the best that we can do is create a judicial framework that permits to accommodate this process naturally. …with the values that we share as neighbors and partners, we have to seek creative solutions to this common problem and help our numerous workers that live today in the shadows of society….We should act jointly to generate new markets for our common exports [?], we should work together to resolve our common challenges. We should understand that the true competition is not between us, but between our region and the rest of the world."
In the question and answer session at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Calderon stated flatly that "It is impossible to stop migration."
But, apparently, this does not apply to "migration" into Mexico across its southern border. For that matter, why does Mexico make it so difficult for Americans to immigrate to Mexico and become citizens?
The Mexican president also made a courtesy call on Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner (who has a B- grade on immigration, according to Numbers USA).
Boehner and Calderon discussed, among other things, immigration:
"Regarding migration, reiterating his full respect of the government of Mexico to the political processes and internal legislations of other nations, [Calderon] expressed his desire that the federal laws governing migration in North America be in accord with the demographic reality of the region and recognize the contributions of the migrants to their communities of origin and of destiny. "
(En el ámbito migratorio, al reiterar el pleno respeto del Gobierno de México a los procesos políticos y legislativos internos de otras naciones, el Jefe del Ejecutivo manifestó su deseo de que las leyes federales sobre migración en América del Norte sean acordes a la realidad demográfica de la región y reconozcan las contribuciones de los migrantes a sus comunidades de origen y de destino.)
Calderon pays lip service to U.S. sovereignty. But what he really wants is that U.S. immigration law "be in accord with the demographic reality of the region…"
In other words, since there are now millions of Mexicans in the U.S., we are obligated to take in millions more.
On this visit, Calderon was not openly aggressive as he was last year when he was attacking SB1070 in the U.S. Congress. Nevertheless, his message was the same — globalism, continental integration, amnesty and mass immigration from Mexico.
Here is what Obama said at the press conference:
"We have also discussed immigration, an issue on which both countries have responsibilities. As I told President Calderón, I remain deeply committed to fixing our broken immigration system with comprehensive reform that continues to secure our borders, enforces our laws — including against businesses that break the law — and requiring accountability from undocumented workers. And we have to conduct this debate in a way that upholds our values as a nation of both laws and immigrants. So I’m eager to work with Republicans and Democrats to get this reform done, which is vital to the U.S. economy."
Yes, both countries have responsibilities. Ours is to run our own immigration policy — without interference from Mexico.
And what’s this about our "broken immigration system"? What’s broken about it?
Well, I guess there a few things — the anchor baby loophole and the level of legal immigration, which is much too high.
But what Obama means by "comprehensive reform" is amnesty.
As for "a nation of both laws and immigrants", we're not a nation of immigrants — we're a nation of Americans. And if the immigrants don’t become Americans, it’s the end of our nation.
Once again, a Mexican Presidente comes here to meddle — and is aided and abetted by our own President.
Wouldn’t it be great if we had a U.S. president who defended our sovereignty — who would firmly put meddling interlopers in their place?
Yes, it would be great. Bush wasn’t like that, nor is Obama.
But there is another presidential election coming up in 2012. Who knows?
American citizen Allan Wall recently moved back to the U.S.A. after many years residing in Mexico. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here; his News With Views columns are archived here; and his website is here.
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