Mexico goes “nativist”

posted at 10:51 am on June 19, 2006 by Bryan
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Mexico is apparently tired of being the world’s pathway into the US:

Quiet as it is kept in political circles, Mexico, so much the focus of the United States’ immigration debate, has its own set of immigration problems. And as elected officials from President Vicente Fox on down denounce Washington’s plans to deploy troops and build more walls along the United States border, Mexico has begun a re-examination of its own policies and prejudices.

Here at Mexico’s own southern edge, Guatemalans cross legally and illegally to do jobs that Mexicans departing for the north no longer want. And hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from nearly two dozen other countries, including China, Ecuador, Cuba and Somalia, pass through on their way to the United States.

Hm. Somalia just fell to Islamist warlords. Cuba isn’t exactly a friend of the US. Neither is China. For these countries or groups that might be attached to one of them, getting agents into the US via Mexico probably isn’t the easiest way–but it’s a way works reliably, year after year.

The line about illegals doing jobs Mexicans won’t do is just too rich. What kind of job would that be, exactly? Why doesn’t the Times follow up on that?

Anyway, read the rest–it’s highly entertaining. As is this little fact:

The Rev. Ademar Barilli, a human rights advocate who, with the support of the Roman Catholic Church, runs a shelter for migrants in Tecún Umán, a Guatemalan border city, said that unlike crossing patterns at the northern border, migrants here did not typically go far into remote areas, hoping to avoid the authorities. Instead, he said, the migrants try to bribe their way through.

“A migrant with money can make it across Mexico with no problems,” Father Barilli said. “A migrant with no money gets nowhere.”

What kind of illegal migrant has money? Most likely, one that’s up to no good.

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