December 12, 2005

Creepy WaPo article on illegal immigration contains grain of truth

An article with a rather strange provenance has appeared in the WaPo, entitled "Who's Trying to Cross Our Southern Border? Everyone". Here's the signature block:

Michael Flynn is a freelance writer based in Geneva. He received a grant from the Washington-based Fund for Investigative Journalism to report on transmigration from Mexico.

And, he includes this:

...provided to me during a recent trip to Mexico when officers from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a group committed to managing the global migration crisis...

IOM is like a mini-UN. It was started by Belgium and the U.S. in the 50s, and, like the U.N. it has member states, observer states, etc. While nominally independent from the UN, I think we can consider them one and the same.

The article reports on those from about a third of the countries of the world who come to Mexico to cross into the U.S. The grain of truth amongst the propaganda comes from this:

Mexican commentators also argue that many of the country's problems stem from U.S. policies. If the United States didn't give so much work to undocumented immigrants, goes the argument, then Mexico wouldn't be flooded with migrants from across the globe. Says Father Vladimiro Valdez, a Jesuit priest in Mexico City and outspoken critic of both Mexican and U.S. immigration policies: "The fact is, the United States needs illegal workers, and it needs them to remain illegal because then they can continue to keep their wages low."

The politics of free trade, say critics like Valdez, have done little to improve the situation of the poor. Some claim that NAFTA has become a tool used by the United States to drive poor Mexican farmers off the land, thereby producing a steady stream of cheap labor for U.S. agribusiness.

They might indeed be right about that. The solution is not to create a guest worker program. And, the solution is not to give more benefits to illegal aliens and increase the draw.

The solution is to crack down on those growers and others who are creating this huge demand for illegal labor. Fewer foreign crossers coming to Mexico, fewer crossers coming to the U.S. It's a win-win.

Posted to Immigration2005b at December 12, 2005 04:02 AM

Comments

"The fact is, the United States needs illegal workers,..."

Baloney.

"...and it needs them to remain illegal because then they can continue to keep their wages low."

I don't doubt at all that there are people who could not care less if their workers are legal or illegal -- employment in America is not some sort of philanthropic enterprise. In this sense, illegals would probably be easier to exploit.

Posted by: eh at December 12, 2005 07:26 AM

Does the administration suffer from peonophilia?

Posted by: John S Bolton at December 12, 2005 10:33 PM

"peonophilia"

Jesus Christ on a Harley, Mr. Bolton, this is priceless!

Posted by: D Flinchum at December 13, 2005 04:10 PM