Mexican president says U.S. Senate made 'grave mistake' killing migration bill?
Calderon said the Senate's failure to pass the bill will close the door to legal immigration, permit continued illegal immigration and human rights violations, and decrease security on both sides of the border.
He added that the bill would have been a "sensible, rational, legal solution to the immigration problem," and that the Senate's decision will negatively affect the competitiveness of both the United States and Mexico.
"It worsens the possibility of progress and prosperity not just for the immigrants, but also for the citizens of the United States," he told a news conference held with visiting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
"The North American economy could not prosper and advance without the labor of Mexican and Central American immigrants."
Calderon has pushed hard for immigration reform while harshly criticizing a 700-foot (200-meter) border-security fence approved by Congress and President George W. Bush.
Salvadoran President Tony Saca also lamented the Senate's decision to kill the immigration measure, saying, "What a shame. What a shame
Answer:
What a lode of hooey! Just because it's good for Mexico doesn't mean it's good for Americans. If it's not good for Americans, then it's not good. Period. The people hate the bill and this is ALL that should count. For once, WE are getting our way instead of Big Money, which is the only one that would really benefit from this bill. Our government needs to enforce the laws already in place. There is no need for reform - just inforce the LAW for crying out loud.
It is BAD MANNERS, as well as unethical, to enter a market place and undercut all the competition, -- and this is precisely what Illegal immigrants do when they break laws and UNDERCUT American citizens out of their livlihood. It is WRONG what they do and they shouldn't be rewarded for it! I am a humanitarian, but its just not FAIR for AMerican citizens to lose their own jobs to illegal immigrants who will work for peanuts. They are HURTING Americans by doing this!! Unfortunately many liberals are white collar workers and do not understand how illegals are hurting real citizens. If their own jobs were being sold out from under them, they would no doubt feel differently about the situation. Talk about elitism disguising itself as "anti-racist" - ARRGH
The Mexican President is disrespectful of American citizens. He refuses to take any responsibility for the problem or admit the injustice that illegal immigrants are supporting in their choices - and tries to make AMerican citizens GUILTY of what? Bigotry for being against the illegal theft of JOBS?? There is nothing unjust about seeking JUSTICE and what this bill proposes is NOT Justice.
Well, I can see why he wouldn't like it since our loss is his country's gain.
He is entitled to his opinion and is representing his country to the best of his ability.
I only wish OUR representatives would represent their own country as zealously.
Sounds like blackmail to me.
We need to build that wall that the Congress appropriated money for. Then we need to enforce the immigration laws we passed in 1986 and earlier. We can ease restrictions on legal immigration, but only once we get rid of all the market interference that makes immigration into a problem.
I guess it is a grave mistake because now Mexico is stuck with all the Panamanians and other central American refugees who enter Mexico City daily looking for work.
I do not see where it is an United States problem; unless, Mexico decides to ban all exports to the United States. I wonder how GM. Ford motor company and Chrysler would like that.
I think the Mexican scumbag, Presidente Felipe Calderon, needs to mind his own business. He should look at his own country before pointing fingers at ours.
There is an attack on the middle class in America witch happens to make up 45% of Americans. My father and his and his before that fought in the service so that we could have our freedoms and a chance at a better life than they had. The first time since the great depression our generation is worse off than the one before. A person could do the same job there Grandfather did and make 12% less than 2 generations ago. The price of living has increased yet wages have decreased that is a red flag of thing to come. In 1965 there were about 200 lobbyists in Washington D.C. lobbying for corporate America in 2007 there are 32000 pouring money in the pockets and gaining influence. This is a major problem witch brings us to this immigration problem.
One reason we're supposed to rejoice at the pitter-patter of illegal feet is that foreigners are only coming here to "do jobs Americans won't do." It's one of those basic assumptions upon which the argument in favor of forgetting we have borders, a culture and laws rests, and even President Bush mentioned this "truth" while speaking about immigration reform recently. And, undoubtedly, there are certain immutable laws of economics.
Only, this isn't one of them.
The next time someone mindlessly parrots this mantra, just ask, "What jobs would those be?" As you'll soon learn, the answer doesn't really matter, but sometimes we're shamed by didacts who oh-so-sternly say that illegals are the people who "pick our fruit for us." So, fruit picking - something that must be in league with being a rat catcher in Victorian London or Wile E. Coyote's stunt double - is as good an example as any.
One amusing aspect of the fruit picking fiction is that millions of people in our country engage in this activity as a form of recreation. Why, there are folks who embark upon autumn ventures to the hinterlands to pick apples and consider it a fun family outing. But I digress.
I have to ask, if I paid you $800 an hour to pick fruit, would you do it? Except for the silk and satin set, I have a feeling most would beat a path to my orchard. And this brings us to what is a true law of economics.
There are no jobs Americans won't do. There are only wages Americans won't work for.
And this relates to a fact of contemporary American life: immigrants, illegal or otherwise, depress wages. Oh, some would dispute this? Well, they're wrong and I intend to prove it.
There's another universal, unchangeable law of economics called "supply and demand," and most of us understand it. Regardless of what product or service is at issue, if demand increases relative to supply, prices increase; if supply increases relative to demand, prices drop. And this phenomenon is relevant here. Why?
Quite simply because, like it or not, within the context of a free market system workers are commodities whose value is determined by supply and demand. For example, a skilled neurosurgeon doesn't make a half a million dollars a year because what he does is so important. If that were the case, he'd earn more than people who hit, kick and throw balls around and sign autographs. No, his income is a function of his rarity; create 100 million more just like him, and his salary will become relatively paltry.
Thus, increase the supply of workers relative to the jobs available and the value of workers decreases. This is not opinion, my friends, but hard, cold fact. Immigrants swell the worker pool, thereby increasing competition for jobs, allowing employers to pay less for the same employees. We've all heard of a "buyer's market" and a "seller's market"; well, high levels of immigration transform us from a worker's market into an employer's market. Big business loves it.
Of course, the immigration lobby has an answer at the ready when this truth becomes inconvenient. "How much do you want to pay for a head of lettuce?!" they exclaim.
What's so ironic about this argument is that its proponents are generally the very same people who'll zealously campaign for increases in the minimum wage, an action that can also increase the cost of doing business and, therefore, retail prices. But since they say they want to help poor Americans, let's discuss that.
The natural, free market way to help low income Americans is to increase their value by making them rarer commodities. How do you do this? You guessed it, by severely curtailing (a moratorium would be ideal) immigration. Do that and America becomes more of a worker's market, forcing businesses to offer more money to attract applicants.
Would goods become more expensive? Perhaps, but while this isn't the focus of this piece, that may be more than offset by the elimination of the social consequences (e.g., hospital, welfare and education costs) of absorbing millions of often illiterate (some can't even read and write their own languages) Third World immigrants into our nation. Regardless, this is the traditional, healthy, free market way of spreading the wealth around. And I'd rather redistribute wealth through the market than through socialism.
Lastly, there's another irony here. Cesar Chavez, the head of the United Farm Workers Union during its heyday, is a hero of Americans of Mexican descent. So much so, in fact, that his name is often associated with the dual cause of promoting immigration and the re-conquest of California and the American southwest, known as La Reconquista. Conveniently forgotten, though, is a very inconvenient fact: when Chavez enjoyed the peak of his power, he was a fervid - bordering on venomous - opponent of illegal immigration. And he not only railed against it but often actually reported Mexican illegals to the INS so they could be deported. He also protested illegal immigration on the border in 1969 and had civilian border guards who were sufficiently heavy-handed to make today's Minutemen seem milquetoasty.
What motivated him? Quite simply, he was charged with the responsibility of keeping his union members' wages as high as possible. And he understood the law of supply and demand.
We have a union called the United States. I just wonder if membership therein means anything anymore.
Of course, there's always cheap lettuce.
Why should America take in their criminals? It is not acceptable to this hard-working citizen. In fact, any illegals I come in contact with I will report. I am sick of my tax money being spent on illegals for their support. It isn't right in any sense of the word!
Calderon talks. A chihuahua yips.
No one cares.
Here's the key idea: It's NOT HIS COUNTRY, so he can BITE ME.
Well, if all the illegal mexicans in the U.S. are such great people as Calderon says, wouldn't you think he'd want to keep them in Mexico. He thinks it's a mistake because he doesn't want the dirty wetbacks deported back to his country where he'll have to deal with their problems.
ummm, last time I checked, they had no human rights in America.lol
Who cares!! What? He might not go along with the "secret deal" he made with Bush? GOOD! I'm sick of this line of BS!!
Caldarone has fought hard. I'll give him that. But the fact he's willing to sell out at the first line of opposition..says theres'a a DEAL.not that he's trying to FIX something.
This is blackmail. I don't really CARE!! It's a very one sided "deal".
Is he threating the USA? It sounds that way to me.
is that a threat? sounds like he's trying to blame USA for their problems
Calderon only wants an easy and convienent way to get rid of those unemployed poor in their country. What better way than ship them elsewhere and let somebody else deal with it? The truth is he doesn't want to be burdened with high unemployement and a low overall quality of life in Mexico.
If Calderon sees immigration any other way, why has he made no effort whatsoever to soften Mexico's immigration laws? In my opinion we should mirror other countries' immigration laws. That way everything would be fair across the board.
The Mexican Government is not acting in our interest but in theirs. The United States must learn this lesson: "Good neighbors have secured borders".
First of all, he is way out of line to voice his opinion about the domestic policy of another sovereign nation. Secondly, if the Mexican government did their job, and took care of their own people, we wouldn't have an immigration issue. The Mexican people feel that they have to run away from their own country to support their families, and their government is ok with that. That is pathetic. If we are going to be expected to be the solution for Mexicos problems, I say we just make Mexico the 51st state, and impose our our laws and regulations on them, including minimum wage. Problem solved, and our southern most border becomes much narrower.
Ouch. How sad for the Mexican illegal immigrants that they don't realize this. Their own President doesn't want them but yet they are so loyal to him. They wave the Mexican flag, they don't learn English, and they send money back to relatives in Mexico which helps their economy. I say, send them back to Mexico and make them revolt against their mafia government. We, the American taxpayers, should not be responsible for them any longer.
That's why we are the US and his country is Mexico. We look out for our interests. The interest of Mexico would have been served by that bill and it now proves why it is a good think it was defeated if he is speaking out for it.
Of course the Mexican President would say that. He's a crooked loser who's been promoting the idea of sneaking into the U.S. illegally for years. And Bush is stupid enough to try to make an alliance with Fox. All they want to do is drain our economy. I never thought I would say this, but thank God the Democrats are in the majority right now. Despite the fact that most Republicans were opposed to the immigration bill as well, Bush would have had a much easier time with the House and Senate.
Nobody gives a **** what the Mexican President says all he want's to do is download all of his garbage on us.
we need to enforce the laws that are already on the books and start the mass deportations now! (the bill is dead and they lost.)
Don't care what he thinks. He needs to take care of his own and take them all back if they are such hard workers.
Sure Calderon wanted us to pass the immigration bill and remain a penal colony of the Mexican government. If they weren't exporting their criminal element to the US they would have to deal with them themselves. What kind of consideration does an illegal immigrant have in Mexico. None, except jail time. After all our killing the immigration amnesty bill, and building a border control fence would make the Mexican Government toe the line and do something
constructive, rather than oppress their citizens until they feel
thay have no other choice than to leave.
By the way that is a 700 mile "not foot" fence and I think it should be built with conscripted labor from the pool of illegal immigrants, allowing escape back to their parent country.
its a grave mistake for mexico
by legallizin the immigrants most illegals would be legal and the continuous supply of dollars leaveing the US and into Mexico would continue, if not increase
hes lookin out for mexico and there needs to be a wall made with every illegal sent back, they r actually committin a crime by being here~trespassing~ and need to be treated like such
I agree. Huge mistake
The "grave mistake" is that immigration reform is dead.nothing will be done... It is back to the status quo and this time 5 years from now, there will be 25 million in this country.
It's over folks, they can all go back to work now without fear..
Mexican presidents making comments like that over the last few years, are a big part of why the US politicians were afraid to vote for the bill, even the ones who liked enough of it to otherwise vote for it.
Only leaders of arrogant superpower nations are allowed to butt into another country's private business.
Don't these guys know anything. :o)
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