The U.S. government plans to build a triple-layer fence and put National Guard troops on the border in effort to limit illegal immigration and human trafficking and to protect the country from threats of terrorism. But we can't keep out Mexican president Vincente Fox. He's visiting Washington State tomorrow.
In addition to meeting with Washington's major corporate players, Fox will be hanging out in Yakima, of all places. Why? Because, according to the Seattle P-I, six out of 10 farm workers in Washington are immigrants, mostly of Mexican descent. About 40,000 workers are needed to pick and process the apples each year alone and most of these workers live in Central Washington.
Fox is coming to show support for Mexican immigrants, both legal and illegal. This comes at a time when Mexico is being exposed for encouraging its cities to ban non-natives from local jobs as firefighters, police and judges, even if they are legal, naturalized citizens. In an act of blatant hypocrisy, Mexico is pressing the United States to grant unrestricted citizenship to millions of undocumented Mexican migrants all while enforcing its own strict, internal immigration policies that makes assimilation in Mexico challenging, to say the least.
But the fact of the matter is: Mexico's immigration policies don't really matter because no one wants to be in Mexico. According to the Seattle Times, "Ten years ago, 260,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico were entering the U.S. each year. That number is now estimated at around 500,000."
Mexico has undoubtedly suffered from corrupt leadership for decades and as a result Mexicans want to get the hell out. Mexican officials don't mind. That's 500,000 less people to worry about each year. They know the U.S. will shoulder the burden of supporting the impoverished. Fox is in town to make sure of that.
Last night, after cooking a magnificent feast for friends and watching a mediocre "American Idol" finale, I received a call from my old high school friend, Theanne.
