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| Home Front: Politix |
| Real Anti-Immigrant Bigotry |
| 2006-04-10 |
| Excerpt: As far as the kind of treatment illegal immigrants from Mexico deserve, let’s treat them as Mexico treats all immigrants. According to the Center for Security Policy’s J. Michael Waller, “Mexico deals harshly not only with illegal immigrants. It treats even legal immigrants, naturalized citizens and foreign investors in ways that would, by the standards of those who carp about U.S. immigration policy, have to be called ‘racist’ and ‘xenophobic.’ “If you think these critics are mad about U.S. immigration policy now, imagine how upset they would be if we adopted an approach far more radical than the bill they rail against which was adopted last year by the House of Representatives - namely, the way Mexico treats illegal aliens.” For example, according to an official translation published by the Organization of American States, the Mexican constitution includes the following restrictions: Pursuant to Article 33, "Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country." Equal employment rights are denied to immigrants, even legal ones. Article 32: "Mexicans shall have priority over foreigners under equality of circumstances for all classes of concessions and for all employment, positions, or commissions of the Government in which the status of citizenship is not indispensable." ... Article 55 denies immigrants the right to become federal lawmakers. A Mexican congressman or senator must be "a Mexican citizen by birth." ... Article 27 states, "Only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and Mexican companies have the right to acquire ownership of lands, waters, and their appurtenances, or to obtain concessions for the exploitation of mines or of waters." Article 11 guarantees federal protection against "undesirable aliens resident in the country." What is more, private individuals are authorized to make citizen's arrests. ... According to Article 33, "the Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action." |
| Posted by:ed |
| #5 IIRC the Mexican government recently changed their laws to allow 'former' citizens [those naturalized in the US] to continue to vote in Mexican elections. |
| Posted by: Slinetle Flains8557 2006-04-10 21:10 |
| #4 I'm not too sure about that story your former coworker told you, Sea. I think most of Durango is over 100 miles from the ocean, so even if the Mexican government recognized her as an American now, she could legally own the land. (They never used to recognize when one of their citizens took another country's citizenship, unless they've recently changed their laws.) |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2006-04-10 16:31 |
| #3 You know, I don't like Clancy as much as I used to, but in Debt of Honor, they had a nifty law that would mirror the laws of another country. That would be amusing to do to Mexico. Tell them we'll make our laws just like theirs. Then if they complain, we'll just say we're following their lead. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2006-04-10 15:37 |
| #2 A former coworker of mine was Mexican by birth and here legally, with green card and all. She wanted to become a US citizen but dared not because she would lose all rights to her family's land in Durango. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-04-10 13:55 |
| #1 Sounds like a haven for foreign investment and entrepreneurship. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-04-10 12:51 |