Love they neighbor, but don't pull down the hedge

The Best DeFence, part 2

In the last Daily Dose, I regaled you with some statistics showing the REAL impact of illegal immigration here in the U.S. To recap, I showed you how our wide-open southern border facilitates the largest source of revenue to Mexico -- a river of $35-$50 billion per year that dwarfs their income from oil exports and tourism (the #1 and #2 legitimate income sources on Mexico's books) combined.

But you don't need statistics to see which way the wind's blowing here. Just consider the reaction that heads of state in the Latin world are having to the recent (and largely politically driven) American fixation on potential new immigration control measures…

According to multiple recent reports in the Associated Press, Reuters and others, diplomats from Mexico and other Latin American states have openly and loudly criticized U.S. proposals for greater border security.

At a summit in Mexico City, dignitaries from not only our southern neighbor, but Guatemala, el Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize and Panama met to denounce any and all current suggestions on how to control the rampant flood of humanity bent on seizing for themselves all that's great about America -- but without all those pesky citizenship hassles.

During this summit, these morons even had the unmitigated gall to demand MORE concessions from the U.S. toward their throngs of penniless émigrés -- things like amnesty (even though we've granted amnesty to illegals seven times since 1986) and guest worker programs so that even more of their citizens can come here to make their tax-free livings and get their low-cost educations and free health care…

Mexican President Vicente Fox has called proposed U.S. anti-illegal-immigration measures (especially erecting a simple, but effective fence) "disgraceful," and "shameful." This is outrageous. Vicente Fox and his criminal government are more of a menace to our freedom than Sadam Hussein ever was or ever could be.

Rhetoric like this points as strongly as any statistics to the way the benefits flow in the U.S./Latin America relationship. Clearly, it's from North to South. Otherwise, Mexico would be the ones building a wall and beefing up border patrols to keep their young, able-bodied workers in.

And speaking of statistics and rhetoric, keep reading…

Fully 10% of the Mexican population currently lives illegally in the U.S. But that's not even the scary number…

Another 40% of Mexicans claim they'd hop the border if they could, according to Pew Hispanic Center research. That would be an influx of more than 40 MILLION more largely unskilled, non-English-speaking people.

Think that would be the boon to our economy that most politicians would have you believe?

What's even more shameful than what the Latino-state diplomats are saying about American anti-illegal-immigration proposals is what OUR OWN elected officials are saying. In highly publicized recent incidents, leading Democrats have denounced a proposal that's hugely popular (with American citizens, not American politicians) to formally establish English as the official American language…

Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) called the idea "divisive." Hmmm. Uniting us all in a common language would divide us?

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid even called the idea "racist." Yeah, that's in touch with the American mainstream…

And Senator McCain and others have said that those illegals that are here and paying into Social Security and paying income taxes (which isn't that many since a lot of them are working for cash under the table) should be exempt from any pending law making their presence a crime, or stipulating their deportation.

I see. Make yourself a successful criminal for long enough and you're a citizen!

Next Dose: What we SHOULD do to easily fix the illegal immigration problem -- and why we WON'T…

Speaking the universal language (truth) in the American language (English),

William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.