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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: T.Q. Houlton
February 14, 2008
202.226.6997
Tancredo Letter to Mexican President
Calderon
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Rep. Tom
Tancredo (R-Littleton) today sent a letter to Mexican President
Felipe Calderon questioning the motives behind his current visit to
the United States as well as the charges levied by Mr. Calderon
against the fairness of American immigration policy. A copy of the
letter is below:
President Calderon:
I was disappointed by misguided comments you recently
made regarding U.S.-Mexico relations and U.S. immigration laws.
Purveying misinformation and absurd allegations is hardly a positive
step to building a constructive partnership.
According to the Associated Press you recently said, “You
have two economies. One economy is intensive in capital, which is
the American economy. One economy is intensive in labor, which is
the Mexican economy. We are two complementary economies, and that
phenomenon is impossible to stop.” Yes, both countries benefit by
the 85% of Mexico’s manufacturing exports that come to the U.S., but
people are not commodities. While I appreciate your concern for our
joint prosperity, the economic and social ills that plague your
country cannot be resolved by simply exporting your citizens to the
United States.
It is undeniable that
Mexico faces major challenges. Endemic corruption and the power of
violent drug cartels still dominate everyday life across Mexico.
Beyond the headlines, Mexico has deep institutional maladies.
Mexico’s absurdly antiquated Napoleonic-inquisition styled legal
system and the squandering of robust energy-industry opportunity by
a poorly managed, state-run Pemex monopoly are just two examples of
the kind of self-inflicted wounds that hobble your troubled nation.
I understand that you
are attempting to resolve some of these problems and applaud your
leadership in trying to do so. But what would contribute more to the
long term stability of your economy and your country would be to
focus more energy on addressing your domestic challenges and less on
lobbying the U.S. to provide amnesty for Mexicans who have illegally
entered this country with the blessing of your government. In doing
so, you might be able to keep Mexico’s “best and brightest young
men” in Mexico – where they can contribute more to Mexico’s economy
than remittance payments. Unfortunately, your recent comments
indicate that Mexico will continue its policy of encouraging illegal
immigration and treating the United States as little more than a
dumping ground for your social and economic problems.
In your speech yesterday to the
California State legislature, you lectured the American people on
how to improve our immigration policies. Why did you not propose
that we model our policies on Mexico’s own policies toward illegal
entry across your own southern border? Mexico expends enormous
resources to prevent Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans from
entering the country illegally, but you castigate the United States
for wanting secure borders. Mr. President, in my neighborhood that
is called hypocrisy.
You proposed in your
Sacramento speech that “migration” be made “legal, safe and
organized.” Mr. President, we already have such a program and it is
called legal immigration. Over one million legal immigrants
come through our ports of entry each year, not across our border
fences. The American people set limits on the number of legal
immigrants through our immigration laws, and it is not the job of
the Mexican government to revise or expand those limits.
President Calderon,
you are insulting the American people when you tell us that fifteen
to twenty million illegal aliens in our country bring only benefits
and no costs. I challenge you to give one concrete example of how
the enforcement of our existing immigration laws violates anyone’s
human rights. The people of Oklahoma are not anti-Mexican for
passing laws to require verification of employment eligibility. The
people of Indiana are not anti-immigrant for passing laws to require
photo identification for voting. The people of California are not
anti-Mexican for denying driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. The
people of Arizona are not anti-immigrant for passing laws that deny
welfare benefits to people who are in that state unlawfully.
It is no secret that
the purpose of your visit is to influence the American election, and
in fact your trip has been billed as a high-stakes effort to shape
the immigration debate underway in the U.S. presidential race. What
is perhaps more disappointing, however, is your attempt to insinuate
that anti-amnesty sentiment here in the U.S. is the same as
anti-Mexican sentiment. I am referring to your statement, “I need to
change in Mexico the perception that the Americans are the enemy,
and it is important to change the perception that the Mexicans are
the enemy.”
It is both
disingenuous and dangerous for you to inject this kind of xenophobia
into this debate. The fact that the overwhelming majority of
Americans support the enforcement of our immigration laws and take
issue with the notion that we should reward illegal behavior, hardly
qualifies as ethnic animosity or international enmity. What you must
understand is that a treasured aspect of our national foundation is
a respect for the rule of law. Perhaps if corruption were not so
widespread and commonplace in Mexico, it would be easier for you to
understand this.
President Calderon,
in many ways your trip thus far has been a long series of mixed
messages. You accuse the United States of recent protectionist
trends, yet you heavily restrict foreign entry into Mexico’s energy
sector through a massive, state-run Pemex monopoly. You assure
American politicians that an open flow of cheap Mexican labor is not
only benign but vitally necessary, but you take great care in
securing your own southern border with Guatemala. You come to the
United States purportedly to promote better political and economic
ties with the U.S., but then issue a thinly veiled threat that
Mexicans will regard the U.S. as an enemy if we refuse to provide
millions of illegal aliens with unconditional amnesty.
President Calderon, I
respectfully suggest that the next time you visit our country,
rather than trying to influence U.S. policymakers or our election
process, you take time to listen to Americans rather than lecture
them. If you want to make changes in government policies, apply your
energies to Mexico’s laundry list of problems rather than meddling
in domestic American politics.
Sincerely,
Tom Tancredo, M.C.
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