I also love the Latin people. Having taught for years in California, I enjoyed the people and culture from South of the Border. I hate to see a rift develop between the U.S. and our neighbor, Mexico. It’s always been interesting to me how we concetrate on the illegal aliens from Mexico in this country, but never consider Canadians who immigrate illegally much of a problem.

I oppose building a fence between our nations. I remember clearly seeing the Berlin wall while ti was operational. I also think we need to avoid alienating the Mesican government. I do, however,still believe we have the legal right and responsibility to protect our borders. I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t have any answers. It’s true that the economic situation in Mexico needs to improve.

And we need to recognize and celebrate the contributions Mexican Americans have made to both our national economy and our culture.

Connor, your claim that Mexico has “profited on our dime for far too long” is hard to imagine. Mexico’s economy has gained a lot of ground on the basis of remittances from the U.S., but those remittances come from productive work done in the U.S. that more than off-sets any cost to our country. Cutting off Mexican immigration would have costs for Mexico, but the dollar price for the U.S. would be substantially larger. In much of the U.S., agriculture, the construction industry, meat packing, manufacturing, and many other productive economic sectors (far beyond the fast food industry and janitorial work that you mention) would suddenly find themselves with vast labor shortages. That would drive wages way up, ending the profitability of huge components of American business. Did you like the Great Depression so much that you want another?

You say, “the law must be obeyed.” Great. So, instead of the current hypocrisy in which we have a law on the books that would kill us if enforced, let’s change the law so that the real economic survival needs of our country are no longer illegal. Then there’s no problem, right?

Keep in mind also that even illegal immigrants pay taxes. Sales taxes. And even more.

My whole problem with this border issue is that we allow huge, rich corporations to cross the border to make big bucks, but don’t allow individuals to do the same thing. When we took advantage of the corrupt politicians of Mexico in 1994 and instituted NAFTA, immediately the minimum wage in Mexico dropped about 50%. The middle class in Mexico shrunk quite a bit and you see a mass exodus of farmers (as they are undersold by cheap and subsidized US agricultural products) moving to the Maquiladoras in places like Juarez, where the cost of living is about 80% of what it is across the river in El Paso, but the people get paid peanuts and any trend toward organizing labor is squashed immediately. Before we arbitrarily set up the border between us and Mexico, people passed freely over that border for thousands of years. Now our secret combinations have conspired to get gain and glory at the expense of the common paizano.

I think that if we don’t like the current immigrant situation, we need to seriously rethink NAFTA, which is in my opinion at least part of the root cause of our problems today.

haha probably my favorite picture ever

The main difference between our proposed border fence and the Berlin wall is that the former is to keep aliens out, while the latter was to keep citizens in. Big difference, in my opinion.

What would your reaction be if Mexico volunteered to build a fence on their side of the border?

Does the side of the border the fence (or wall) is on change whether it is evil or not?

It seems you’ve missed the fact that my comments were in reference to this statement of yours:

The main difference between our proposed border fence and the Berlin wall is that the former is to keep aliens out, while the latter was to keep citizens in. Big difference, in my opinion.

Please cite the section you’re referring to next time so I know the context of your comment.

Please re-read my initial comment.