Ruining Mexico

When both my grandfathers were colonels in the Army of Nicholas II, Tsar of All the Russias, and were busy fighting the Bolsheviks in the 1920’s Counterrevolution, little did either one imagine that 87 years later their grandson (whom they never would meet) would be referring to them when discussing illegal immigration into the US from Mexico. Because their cause was lost, they both emigrated to Shanghai, China, where one’s son met the other’s daughter and married and produced two children. The migration story did not end there because in 1949, the son and daughter and their two young children again had to flee Communism as Mao Zedong’s forces routed the Nationalist Chinese. Evacuated by the United Nations on the U.S. Army Transport General A.W. Greely, the young family were transported to the Philippines where they lived in surplus Army tents with 6,000 other Russians from Shanghai. After 10 months on that tiny Island of Tubabao, they began their trek to America by sailing around Australia, through the Suez Canal and across the Mediterranean. They crossed the Atlantic on two ships: the first leg from the Philippines to Genoa was on the Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus in Spanish); the second ship — from Rome to the Dominican Republic (where Columbus first set foot in the Americas) was the Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus in Italian), so St. Christopher was involved in their safe passage somehow, as was Christopher Columbus. When we were preparing to go to America in 1952, my parents left us behind in San Salvador and went first to New Orleans. Six month later, my sister and I joined them in Miami and were promptly quarantined for several weeks for reasons never explained. While being hosted by new-found friends Edwin and Irene Katz in Miami, I was given the opportunity to learn English while watching The Arthur Godfrey Show on black-and-white television. Up until that time, I spoke only Spanish and before we arrived in Latin America, we spoke only Russian. My parents both spoke five languages each and in none of the countries that we visited did we ever demand that they learn our language; we learned theirs. We didn’t ask them to change their street signs, newspapers or voting processes either. Once in America, we moved to New York City where my father’s sister put us up in a one room walk-up apartment on West End Avenue near the George Washington Bridge. After five years, my parents became naturalized citizens and we children became Americans. Since that time, I have gone to American schools and lived the life of an American. Though we still maintained some of our Old Country Russian traditions around the holidays, we were virtually indistinguishable from everyone else except for my father’s Russian accent. After high school, I tried college, but left after one semester and eventually enlisted in the Army on December 8, 1965. The most important year of my service was 1968 when I was privileged to serve as an infantry medic with “A” Company, of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment (ABN), 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. I left the Army in January of 1969 with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart and a lot of both happy and sad memories. Despite many years of struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I managed to make a life for myself and am now retired and find myself being railed at by people who have bypassed what I and millions of other immigrants had to do in order to come to this great country and become Americans. I am told that because they were able to successfully evade the Border Patrol, and were able to find work at wages undercutting legal residents, they are entitled to all that this country has to offer including an amnesty program which grants them citizenship. But successfully evading the law enforcement efforts of the Border Patrol is not listed as one of the criteria for either entering the country or for becoming legalized residents — much less citizens. We are told that since we have 12 to 20 million people now in this country illegally, we need new laws to deal with them. What they do not say is that the “problem” they refer to only exists because the existing laws were not enforced. If they had been, this “problem” they want us to solve would not be an issue. And to say that there are jobs that Americans just won’t do is not only a lie, but a damned lie as well as being a perfidious calumny hurled at the American working man and woman. In my life I have worked for pay by pumping gas, washing toilets, picking apples, doing construction labor, driving a taxi, as a reporter for a daily newspaper and publishing a magazine. To say to me and other Americans that we think we are above doing any kind of honorable work is beyond insulting. An American won’t take a job for minimum wage not because the job is beneath him/her, but because they can’t support their family on it. If I were from Mexico and lived in a room with 12 other men who were working and saving their money, then I would work for any wage I could get because I would know that I was saving most of it to send home! I could afford to work for minimum or sub-minimum wage under those circumstances and would do so gladly. Therefore, our problems today are not expressions of a lack of workers in this country, but are a consequence of a conscious decision by the Bush administration to not enforce immigration laws. Why would they do that? Perhaps because it is a continuation of a plan that has become evident over the years: flooding the country with cheap labor is part of a long term goal of minimizing the power of the middle class. Why? Because when workers are fearful of losing their jobs and their homes, they are less apt to complain when their civil rights are trampled upon. Here is a fundamental truth: the Republic is safe only when we have a strong middle class. When that segment of society is neutralized, the power elites will accumulate more and more power — as much as we allow them. The ultimate consequence of that unimpeded power grab is that Mexicans will no longer desire to come north because we will have become a mirror image of Mexico itself: a nation rich in natural resources, but governed by a corrupt oligarchy intent on keeping all the wealth to itself while stifling the middle class as a matter of policy. Is it really the plan of the One World Order types to reduce us to feudalism? I can’t say what’s on their minds. But whether they have stated that as their goal or not, I do know that that is where their policies are leading us, and illegal immigration is the tip of the spear being driven into the heart of the American nation. So, am I opposed to illegal immigration because I am not Mexican? No. I would not support policies which made exceptions for Russians here illegally any more than I would Mexicans. Am I opposed to illegal immigration because most of the illegal aliens are Roman Catholic? No. I was raised Catholic and have no animosity to those of that faith, nor do I lobby for their admission like Sen. Ted Kennedy does just because I was raised Catholic. Maybe he feels that the Church has lost so many adherents from the Priest Sex Abuse Scandal that they need to replenish the pews in order to pay off all the law suits. I can find no other reason for his uncharacteristic stand against the American working family. Am I opposed to immigration, per se? No. I am an immigrant and so is most of my family. I believe in immigration from the entire world. But in an orderly, prescribed manner which allows us to check the backgrounds and intentions of those who apply for admission and citizenship. It’s called having an immigration policy. Something which every nation on the planet has, but which only the United States seems to feel ashamed of. The bottom line is that we do not need new laws. The laws on the books at this time work just fine — when they are enforced. We do not need a “Comprehensive” immigration policy because that is just a euphemism for giving amnesty to 20 million people who have successfully scrambled past the wires or paid thousands of dollars to professional smugglers to bring them across the border — people who already have exhibited an obvious lack of respect for our laws. We don’t know who those people are, and finding out will cost us billions of dollars. And even then, the fake documents industry that had burgeoned in cities like Los Angeles will keep us from learning the truth about them anyway. They must leave the country and if they want to return, let them do it the old fashioned way: legally. It worked for me and for millions of others. These new people here illegally are not special and are not deserving of preferential treatment. If they get it, we might as well leave the country because the flood pouring across the borders will inundate us all. If after the amnesty that President Reagan presided over in 1986 precipitated an influx of 20 million illegals, this next one will probably double that. If we want to have a nation that we call America, we need to demand that our government enforce existing immigration laws. If that is done, the “problem” will resolve itself over time when the illegals realize they are no longer getting work, free education, free medical care, etc. They will go home and their home governments will have to take responsibility for them. And those who feel it is their mission to care for the illegals and champion their causes can go to Mexico and the other countries and do it there. This country is unique among all the nations in history. It is the first truly successful demcratic republic. It will not be conquered from outside, but it can be subverted from within. And that subversion will come from the least likely of corners: it will be done by those waving the American flag and lying about “free trade,” amassing an unprecedented and staggering national debt, bankrupting us with spurious foreign wars, sending our jobs overseas, allowing a flood of illegal immigration and all the while insisting that we should change in order to accommodate the demands of the international corporate world. Corporations do not make up America, people do. And the people have to recognize that their way of life is being threatened by the Internationalists who would be just as happy living in Dubai as well as in Detroit, in Saudi Arabia as well as Salt Lake. They think that the concept of nationhood is passe and merely a holdover from medieval times. The truth is that losing sight of the concept of American Nationhood and all it stands for will initiate a return to those Dark Ages where power was wielded by a few over the many. And when that happens, the Republic truly will be dead. Let’s not let that happen here.

Why is their no discussion of American migration to Mexico as a means to hasten Mexico’s much-needed transformation? Mexico is a wonderful country with tremendous natural resources. In return for allowing Mexicans to stay illegally in the US, the USG should demand that the Govt of Mexico open their borders wide to American businessmen, tourists, investors, families. A sort of reverse colonization, or cross pollenization. The flow of humanity should not be one way, but two way, in order for both countries to thrive. Mexico should change their laws to welcome Americans, and the USG should provide incentives for Americans to colonize Mexico. Turnabout is not only fair play, it is vital in this case.

Mexico has been an indirect colony of USA and ether side exploited by the power full and make us bi live both sides that things are running in a natural way. A big lie. What to do ?Lets get less ignorant first and then the change will come by our positive actions.

Simple solution…re-think…who we are…This was once MEXICO…I don’t think they are Immigrants…more of a displaced culture like the Indians…The Mexicans I have worked with have skills that most Americans don’t…most of the buildings in LA that people love including homes are crafted…by Artisans from Mexico (and other countries)…like Carpenters…Wood Carvers…Iron Workers…painters …finishers and Hand Crafted Furniture…go to the best homes and you will see their work…I know…because I designed thousands of pieces of original custom furniture …doors and lighting for the WEALTHIEST people in the WORLD…and they did the work…I’m not talking about a few homes we are talking about the country the world…Hotels …and Restuarants and the finest resorts…you name it…their work adorns and enhances the life of those that can afford it…So…I would hate to think a California of homes like strip malls…and developments that are all cookie cutter…the style and the archtecture are SPANISH…so wake AMERICA …unless MEXICO can get rid of it’s Corruption…then we will be a country that offers our brothers and sisters to the south the same opportunity our great grand parents dreamed of…America is where Dreamers come…so…I embrace the reality that America is going to change…and we can either be apart of the change or just see the negative…Fear is not the solution…education and understanding the past of this part of the country…is what will build a better America…and I must say…when my Parents died…and I needed to hire workers to clean the house…they were MExicans on the road side Back in NEw York…Paid them 15 dollars cash per hour…and I could not get a local man woman or kid except our family friends to do the work…so Immigrants may not like it…but they do serve many important services…I see many IMMIGRANTS all over from all over making my life better all over the city…the Chinese restaurant..The Korean Cleaners…the Philipino Fish Market…and The list is long…as well as the MExican Men who come by and Garden and Mow the lawn…Bus drivers and Cops…and Fireman…and teachers…bI-LINGUAL LAWYERS…and Doctors…and Thai Women massage therapists…at blue collar prices…and Dental Clinics with many imagrant doctors from Mexico and India and many other coutries…or Eye doctors from Lebanon…America…is for those that want to change their lives…as those before us…being…born here spoils you…us…I often tell people if you are born in America you have won the lottery of life…so don’t begrudge those that have to overcome much to get here…and even then living in SOUTH CENTRAL…is not such a great place to start…but if they have the courage to try…then bless them…maybe they will make that part of the city better…some one needs to do that work…hopefully they will…So …as long as someone wants to work…and to contribute to the community then they are welcome…as we and our families had to come here …my grand parents built the cities in New York…my Grand father was a Roofer…and I am damn proud of him…and my father was a WWII vet fought on Omaha Beach…Battle of the Bulge…and so …they taught me that nothing is coming to you or me…and that this country is about building a dream…so let it continue to be a source of great hope…as it has been to millions before us…and not a place where we shut the door because they will take away feom us…how about they will contribute? I would hope we make this country STRONGER with fresh energy that continues the dream…those that are criminals and do not contribute then they will pay the consequences of crime…and hopefully they will be in the minority so have faith…I have discovered most people are good…so…I have faith our country will go through great change …but that it will be for the better …

Ben Franklin predicted the duration of this government and constitution, we are beyond it. It is now at a point of dis-repair and unworkability, such that it will only be effective to create anew, not try to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear in the states of america dominated by boar-o-cratic politicians/ criminals. Well intended candidates cannot and will not ever fix this extant “system” and only become unwitting cogs in the wheel if they are not already parasitic criminals unable to produce anything of real value….retoric is NOT a product NOR a service. Time to move on. Evolution is never fast enough…Revolution is self destructive. Creation is at the core of anything of value to mankind or any culture. The NOT united States America are FUBAR. The solution is creating a sub culture of ethical products only consumers…revolution with purchasing power as the weapon of choice. This also will fail if self discipline and sacrifice are not the earmarks of the new constituency. Fortunately the immortality of souls will eventually give birth to a new age not based on capitalism or any other “ism” an religions are well into total disrepute and shunned by the enlightened. Be then Content to Cope with the existing scene an know that this too shall pass. from the Gizmoidian Consciousness GIZ

Thanks SO MUCH for posting this thoughtful essay. I couldn’t agree more with your assessment that Americans are FULLY willing to do hard work. It is NOT too much to ask from the business sector of the biggest economy on the planet that FAIR WAGES be paid for all jobs, especially difficult, manual labor. Businesses LIE when they say they can’t find American workers for these jobs. The REALITY is that they can’t find American workers willing to be treated as indentured servants; to be trapped in a permenant economic underclass by slave wages that never allow them to get ahead- no matter how many hours they work. Even with the pressures of globalization, by many measures corporate profits are at an all time high. Who do they think they’re kidding? It’s time for citizens to demand fair wages for EVERY worker in America- from the people who teach our children to the people who pick our crops. Economic justice now!

When I think of modern Mexico, I think of apartheid-era South Africa: a vast underclass oppressed by the privileged few. Where was the indignation of the cultural elite, educated enough, worldly enough, and one would have thought human enough to know apartheid was criminal? Likewise, why are Mexico?s intellectuals, university professors, and business class silent? They have comfortable lives and don’t need to sneak across the border to earn money to send back to their families. If only they had the decency and dare I say, cajones to champion their poorer brothers and sisters and speak truth to power, to the handful of wealthy families that have had a stranglehold on Mexico’s government and commerce for decades. I am a native of a border state. Mexico colors who I am in a hundred subtle ways. Arizona has a huge immigrant population and a rapidly increasing crime rate. The only thing erecting a wall at the border will do is satisfy the American need for a quick solution and a sense of accomplishment: If we build it, they won’t come. It won’t work, we know it won’t work, the problem is bigger than a wall can contain. Revolution might be the answer, but it has to come from within and then be careful what you wish for. We didn’t get the democratic revolution in Iraq that we were promised. I don’t know what the answer is, but thinking about it and talking about it rationally are necessary first steps.

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