I lived in Denver for a few years and had the experience of
being referred to as an Anglo when I visited places like Santa Fe and
Tucson. Being from New York, it struck
me as odd. When I was a kid the W.A.S.P.
crowd made sure I was aware of our ethnic difference. I was not Anglo-Saxon or Protestant. So, why are all these Mexican-Americans
referring to me as an Anglo
The US has seen many non-Protestant waves of immigrants from
the Irish to Italians and certainly many non-Anglo-Saxon waves of immigrants as
well. But other than Mexicans, none have
had a historical claim to American territory.
Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada and Utah were part of
Mexico until the 1840’s. Even after
those states became part of the US, there was a substantial footprint of
Mexicans throughout the territory. Even
today, Mexicans who arrive here “enjoy a sense of being on their own turf”
according to Boston College professor Peter Skerry.
In this context, it seems that Tea Party Senator Rand Paul
is a little late to the party when he pronounced last week that, "Prudence, compassion and thrift
all point us toward the same goal: bringing these workers out of the shadows
and into becoming and being taxpaying members of society." The fact that he has come to this conclusion
suggests that we may yet get comprehensive immigration reform.
Many
conservatives insist that we must “secure our border” first. But it’s fair to say that the border
has never been secure. The geography of
the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico is dominated by desert. There is no natural geographic boundary like
a wide river or a mountain range.
And, it’s also fair to say that the status quo hampers the
progress of long-time productive residents by ensuring they will always operate
in the shadow economy. Legalizing their
status will give them upward mobility and provide their children with an
opportunity to succeed.
Our focus on the Middle East over the last 10 years has
absorbed over $1T of American capital as well as the attention of two
presidents, four secretaries of state, four secretaries of defense, the people
in the administration who work for them, the Congress and our intelligence
establishment. It has also cost over
5000 American lives and impaired our economic prospects.
Meanwhile, a massive state failure was developing on our
southern border with more profound implications for our long-term future. No other industrialized country has such a
long land border with a third world nation. Perhaps it’s time for us to direct our
attention and our resources southward.
The challenges of the porous Mexican-American border are not
part of the daily consciousness of Washington elites. Not only are they not dealing with platoons
of illegal entrants crossing their property and inhabiting their cities, but
also they aren’t paying the bill. The
costs – education, medical care and crime prevention – are primarily borne by
the states.
Yet, the challenges of integrating massive waves of immigrant
Mexicans and Central Americans pale in comparison to the threat of Mexican drug
cartels in the rugged terrain of the mountains adjacent to Ciudad Juarez. It may be that the only way to defeat them is
through military action. Yet cross border tension and our focus on illegal
immigration hamper our ability to create the right kind of alliance between two
countries that lack the legal framework to cooperatively address that challenge.
There are millions of Mexican, Central and South American
immigrants in this country illegally. The vast majority of them are law-abiding
people seeking to work and support their families. Why not legalize their status? There are also millions who cross the border
illegally to work and send money home to their families. Why not legalize their visiting worker status?
The legalized status of these people will enable us to focus
on the real challenges of our relationship with Mexico. It is essential that the Mexican government
not be allowed to fail. We have spent
hundreds of billions of dollars ensuring historical outcomes in the Middle
East. Yet we are amazingly passive about
what is happening to a country with which we share a long land border.
The only question is:
WHO WILL LEAD?
