In a move to satisfy a growing chorus of politicians and activists who have called on the US government to take action to curb the flow of illegal immigrants into this country, the President will give a major address to the nation on the subject of immigration.

By most accounts, a major component of the president’s announcement will be the revelation that the National Guard will be used in some capacity to patrol the US-Mexican border…The immigration issue has taken center stage in American politics with both sides clamoring to define the agenda. While immigration is certainly an important issue, it pales in comparison with other more pressing issues, which the Congress and the President have forgotten or chosen simply to ignore.

As the immigrant debate has intensified so too has concern among immigration supporters, particularly the left, who court immigrants, legal or otherwise, to swell the ranks of their supporters come Election Day. Nowhere is the concern more intense than in Mexico. From the Mexican government on down to the man on the street, there is growing concern that America may finally take border security seriously. For the Mexican government, illegal immigration has long been a means to relieve pressure on the state. The Mexican economy cannot support the 100 million Mexicans who live in that country and thus the government encourages its citizens to traverse the border, legally or otherwise.

Those who find their way to America often support the Mexican economy in other ways as they send money to relatives back home, further relieving pressures on the Mexican government to deliver on failed promises of economic prosperity. Given this reality, it comes as no surprise that Mexican President Vicente Fox telephoned President Bush to express concern over the prospect of National Guard troops patrolling the region. After all if there is a US military presence along the border it may prove increasingly difficult of the Mexican government to get people out of the country. The details of the presidential phone call are unclear, but the gist of the conversation may have gone a little like this:

Fox: El Presidente, I am concerned about reports that you will place troops on the border…is this true.

Bush: Well Sen-yor Fox, I’ve got to do something, with my fellow Republicans and people like the Minute Men making such a fus I have to act to win votes.

Fox: How are we suppose to get rid of these people with all these troops on the border?

Bush: Don’t worry its only temporary, once all the hoopla has died down things will go back to normal.

Fox: Bueno

According to White House officials, President Bush assured Fox that the change did not represent a militarization of the border. There is no word as to whether Bush brought up the fact that Mexico has long since militarized its southern border to prevent the flow of immigrants from Guatemala and other Central American nations. Apparently what’s good enough for Mexico is not good enough for the United States.

Mexico and its agents in this country will most assuredly apply intense pressure on the US government to reverse this decision, if not Mexico may actually have to address problems of corruption and economic stagnation which have left many Mexicans in abject poverty for decades…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4771637.stm