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Politics : ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION THE FIGHT TO KEEP OUR DEMOCRACY -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tadsamillionaire who wrote (2230)	8/12/2007 4:08:00 PM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3197

'United States grabbed large parts of Mexican territory, including Texas and California" i got a feeling they are taking it back by one illegal at a time.

To: Tadsamillionaire who wrote (2230)	8/12/2007 8:39:08 PM
From: American Spirit	Respond to of 3197

These border problems have been going on since the time of Zapata. It's mighty suspicious that only now after their leaders have totally failed in power that the rightwing pushes this anti-Mexican issue as the #1 national crisis. The real #1 national crisis is Bush-Cheney not being thrown out or jailed. And remember, Bush has always heartily supported illegal immigration.

To: Tadsamillionaire who wrote (2230)	8/17/2007 2:42:42 PM
From: Ann Corrigan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3197

Border Illegals Flood Ebbing By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY \| August 16, 2007 Immigration: Thanks to stepped-up U.S. enforcement, being an illegal immigrant is becoming less and less attractive. But powerful forces inside Mexico are also enticing Mexicans to stay home. Rule of law is one. It may just be the most dramatic story of the year. The U.S. Border Patrol announced a stunning 38% drop in illegal immigrant apprehensions in the fiscal year from October through June. On the Mexican side, the Associated Press reports that migrant shelters are full, but the emigrants are heading south. In the U.S., towns full of newer illegal immigrants, like Carpentersville, Ill., now report them emptying out. In harder numbers, migrant remittances are down. Mexico's central bank reported incoming remittances rose only 0.6% in the first half of 2007, compared with a 23% rise in the first half of last year. In U.S. states with the newest waves of immigration, the drop-off was highest. If, as the Inter-American Development Bank has found, new immigrants are the most likely to send remittances, then fewer illegals are coming. It's tempting to credit stepped-up law enforcement in the U.S. for the reversal. But for a reversal this significant there's much more going on. A recent Pew Survey of global attitudes revealed that 50% of Mexicans think emigration is their nation's No. 1 problem. It's not surprising, with one out of seven Mexican workers now living in the U.S. As costs of illegal crossings went down and as the U.S. was lax about laws in the past, a point was reached where it got to be too many. But it left Mexico a strange place. Amusement parks now exist for fun-seekers to spend a night playing illegal immigrants running from the Border Patrol. Towns in Zacatecas state are empty of people, yet many houses sport a shiny new roof financed by U.S. remittances. As an homage to the missing workers, a Mexican artist now plans to create statues representing 2,500 missing emigrants in empty villages. It's clear Mexican culture feels the loss. Meanwhile, demographers calculate growth in Mexico's work force has already peaked. Political scientists have noticed key improvements in Mexico's long march to development. Said UC Davis Professor Philip Martin in a 2004 study: "A combination of the sharp drop in Mexican fertility in the 1980s and 1990s, the potential for sustained economic and job growth in Mexico, and the winding down of the large-scale exodus from Mexican agriculture should reduce Mexico-U.S. migration after 2010." Mexico's population growth peaked at 3.3% in 1970 and is now at 2%. In 1990, Mexico's government began encouraging illegal immigration — right when those born in 1970 began looking for work. But populations level off as incomes rise. Mexican incomes have risen steadily as Mexico opened up globally and with that sunlight, improved its governance, including rule of law. "Mexico is an interesting case because over the last two decades the country has aggressively opened its economy to the rest of the world," UC San Diego economist Gordon Hanson recently wrote. Trade was liberalized in 1985, restrictions on foreign capital ended in 1989 and NAFTA was enacted in 1994. Now taxes are being cut, industries are being privatized, property rights are being strengthened and jobs are being created. It's a long process that, over time, will translate into citizen confidence. Increasingly, Mexicans find they have legitimate, legal jobs to do in Mexico, as the chart shows. This is a key reason for rising incomes. With average Mexican income now at $7,000 — the highest in Latin America — average workers can earn nearly as much there as here. The improvement in rule of law is one part of the strengthening of institutions seen in Mexico. It's critical to persuading illegal migrants to stay home — and prosper. The irony is, rule of law is critical for the U.S.'s prosperity, too, and enforcement of immigration laws is a major part of it.<