A few weeks ago I was hiking at Mt. Charleston and saw a group of about a dozen Hispanic men clearing fallen trees from the side of the road and feeding them into wood chippers. I couldn’t help but wonder how many of them, if any, were in the country illegally. After all, we’re in a deep recession and Las Vegas is the hardest hit city in the country: I know tons of American citizens who would love to have a BLM job these days. Why should an illegal alien get to have a job here while an American remains unemployed?
Thinking about this reminded me of the arguments one tends to hear in favor of allowing illegal aliens to continue pouring into our country: they work, they pay a lot of taxes, they don’t commit more crimes, they have good family values, etc. But as I remembered these arguments, I was struck by a new thought: if all of these things are true, shouldn’t they be back in Mexico helping to make it a better place? Shouldn’t all of the liberals who claim to love everybody and every culture equally, with all of that empathy in their ideology, be more concerned with helping improve Mexico than with the supposed benefits of illegal labor for America?
After all, Mexico is in a bad way economically. This is hardly news, but is supporting the permanent exodus of millions of young, vital, innovative people, in the long run, going to help or hurt Mexico? And doesn’t Mexico need help even more than the U.S.? Where’s the compassion for Mexico?
One might counter that illegals in the U.S. send billions of dollars back to Mexico every year, which is true, but that is a short-sighted, paternalistic, even (dare I say it?) colonial outlook. A very large portion of Mexico’s economy is now dependent on the largesse of illegal labor in the United States. (Why do you think Mexico’s president is so aggressive about illegals being able to stay in America? Civil rights? Please.) In fact, the current American recession has also hurt Mexico financially. Our continued patronizing (in both senses of the word) of illegal aliens has increasingly turned Mexico into a dependent little ward of our parent-like economy. Supporting illegal alien labor in the U.S. is closely akin to supporting an onoing indentured servitude that will, ultimately, come at the expense of any possible future success for Mexico.
If liberals really believe that these millions of illegals are such excellent people, then why are we keeping them for ourselves instead of sending them back to a home country that so desperately needs their help? Don’t liberals want Mexico to be independent, to be better off in the future than they are now?
Or do they want Mexico to turn into an even more feeble ghost town while we continue to have our lawns mowed at discount rates?
Though this post has already gotten a little cheeky, I think the point is valid, and I have to admit that my more sardonic side is now inclined to counter the next statements I hear supporting illegal immigration with, “Why don’t you want them to help build up Mexico instead? Don’t you care about Mexico? Why not? It’s because they’re different from you, isn’t it? Why is there so much hate in your heart?” As they say, turnabout is fair play.
Gently Hew Stone 
Actually, the author, was, overly, kind to the illegal aliens, in that taken as a whole, they DO NOT contribute to the U.S. economy, but , rather they are an overall DRAIN, on the economy, in that they are , (1) Disproportionately represented on the welfare roles. (2) Disproportionately, recievers of “FREE medical services at tax payer expense. (3) They are, disproportionately, represented in the prison population. (4) Many do casual day labor, & pay NO taxes. (5) They take jobs that Americans would like to have. (6)They work “cheap”, so they drive wages down, over all. (7) They occupy “affordable” housing, so they help to keep rent rates high. (8) They have a “hostile” political attitude towards America, in that many intend to “take over America”, from the “White Anglo/Saxon Protestons”, & they have “Para Military’ organizations, with that purpose in mind. (9) The educational system is being “dumbed down, to accomodate these “Spanish speakers.”.. So,..Any American, that cares about the welfare of this country, & cares about the future of their children, should be in favore of MASS deportations of these intruders. But, sadly, “the fix is in”, &, by allowing this influx of “3rd world” people, America, is becoming a “3rd world” nation,..& things can only get worse. America is on a “down hill” slide, into some dark, & bottomless pit, unless the American people awake up, to what is happening, to America,..
You reminded me of something. Didn’t President Kimball say that the saints should build up their own countries rather than coming to the US? I don’t remember reading that in the on-line debate over illegals on the Mormon blogs. Your comment is that people should be building up their own country rather than going elsewhere.
Floyd, yes, exactly! Building on what I already said above and now looking at this from an LDS point of view, has anybody considered that repatriating illegal aliens to Mexico could be a huge boon to the Church throughout Latin America?