A recent Sacramento Bee story continues the story line that things are so wonderful in Mexico that illegals are going back:
There are fewer undocumented immigrants in California – and the Sacramento region – because many are now finding the American dream south of the border.
“It’s now easier to buy homes on credit, find a job and access higher education in Mexico,” Sacramento’s Mexican consul general, Carlos González Gutiérrez, said Wednesday. “We have become a middle-class country.”
Mexico’s unemployment rate is now 4.9 percent, compared with 9.4 percent joblessness in the United States.
While I’m sure there’s something to this, note that the person quoted is the local representative of the Mexican government, who has an interest in portraying his country as positively as possible. Buried in the story, and not highlighted in the headline or the lede, is this comment from someone a whole lot more likely to know what ordinary illegal aliens are actually thinking:
Some aren’t sticking around for the upcoming tomato harvest, said Sylvina Frausto, secretary of Holy Rosary Church in Woodland. “Some have a small parcel in Mexico. They own their own home there, so instead of renting here they go back to their small business there.”
Many raise animals, run grocery stores or sell fruits and goods on street corners.
“They’re going back home because they can’t get medical help or government assistance anymore,” Frausto said, “And when it’s getting so difficult for them to find a job without proper documentation, it’s pushing them away.”
“Pushing them away” — that’s what attrition through enforcement is all about.
I think it should be noted just where it is that they're leaving from. Heck, I'd head off to Mexico myself if I lived in California (not the least of which would be due to Californians).
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseModerate Liberal...um, Libertarian -
Careful there friend, not all of us who live in CA are libtards. A lot of us are moderate to conservative folks who are sadly controlled by the detritus that floats around the cities of LA and SF. If the BIG ONE struck CA and tore off the coastal corridor from LA to SF, CA would swing right into the red state column.
Plus, CA is absolutely, hands-down the most beautiful and resource-rich state in the union (I know, I've lived all across America)...too bad the libtards ruin it for everyone else!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI live here, in Méxcio, (20 plus year missionary) while things are not perfect, Mexico is much better off than when I arrived (read NAFTA). Interest rates are high, but it is possible to get home loans. There is a large number of "Paisanos" coming back. The peso is stable. There is a large middle class (in Mexican terms) now. So, I would say that the story in Sacramento is pretty much right.
Bill Smith
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have a simple question - why can't the federal government be sued to enforce immigration laws?
The Left has used this tactic with the EPA/Clean Air/Water Acts. The lefty eco-nazis in CA used the endangered species act to sue CA in federal court in order to close off the diversion of irrigation water from the Sacramento Delta to the Central Valley. The Central Valley is now a dust-bowl. The EPA was sued during the Bush administration to force it to regulate carbon dioxide as a harmful pollutant.
So why can't States and/or citizens sue the Justice department?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBecause the environmental statutes were written with specific provisions giving citizens standing to file suit against the government to enforce the provisions of the law. The immigration statutes were not -- therefore the courts will not allow the suit to be heard.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI think it's hysterical that there is a news producer ANYWHERE who thinks the viewership will readily accept the notion that Mexico's economy is structurally more sound than ours.
Although, it's even harder to fathom that a left-wing producer wouldn't catch the unintended admission that the Obama economy is Suckville!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI hate to break it to you, but so many are returning because the construction industry has died, and the landscaping industry is not expanding and those that have reasonably steady jobs have their positions locked down.
If unemployment in California is around 12%, that would suggest the illegal market is at least the same if not more. If you are unemployed in California and can't collect unemployment you'll find the cost of living is very high and it's probably better to be in Mexico.
So your real observation is: If you don't want poor citizens of a neighboring country coming to your nation for economic opportunity, have high unemployment in your country.
Not a very good solution. I'd be extremely shocked if the poor economy is not the answer for the departure. I'm pretty sure there are a couple million illegals in CA that still have blackmarket jobs, and the illegals who are going home would have those same type of blackmarket jobs if the economy wasn't in the tank.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI have faith that the next couplwe election cycles will produce the people necessary to turn our country's economy around. The one down side is that an improved jobs picture will once again make us a beacon for illegal immigrants. Let's not forget the border while we're rescinding Obamacareless, reorganizing entitlement programs, and eliminating the EPA, DoE, etc.
Also, we need a wall across the Canadian border.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGuess you haven't been paying much attention to Canada; it's Canada that needs a wall to keep out the tens of millions of Americans who will soon be banging down Canada's door to get out of the Latin American Third World basketcase our "ruling elite's" signal failure to respect immigration laws is bringing about.
Canada today is in many respects a more conservative country than the US: they just gave a resounding victory to the Conservatives nationally; they're exploiting their natural resources (starting with oil), and their economy is booming as a result; they have a merit-based immigration system that brings in immigrants likely to assimilate and contribute to the economy; they have drastically reduced government spending (though their healthcare system is still unfortunately state-controlled); and they strictly enforce laws against immigration -- meaning that outside of Quebec, they remain a proudly Anglophone nation (no "press 1 for English / para espanol dos").
If Obama wins re-election and/or if we don't ever get our house in order with the Southern border/illegals, we'll be telling our young to "Go North, young man."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhat bunk. Canada's official policy is two languages, French and English everywhere in the country.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWell, in 'conservative' Canada, you must be very careful of what you say, whatever language you use. Free speech is lost there. Ask Steyn.
I was kidding about my Canadian Wall, but on second thought...
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