KristiB
05-01-2006, 03:34 PM
I didn't know this...then again I don't know anyone who's fighting to get into Mexico.
Discuss
source is HERE (http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/opinions/story/3269699p-12066726c.html)
Mexico’s Immigration Law: Let’s Try it Here at Home
By J. Michael Waller
Mexico has a radical idea for a rational immigration policy that most
Americans would love. However, Mexican officials haven’t been sharing that idea with us as they press for our Congress to adopt the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill.
That’s too bad, because Mexico, which annually deports more illegal
aliens than the United States does, has much to teach us about how it handles the immigration issue.
Under Mexican law, it is a felony to be an illegal alien in Mexico.
At a time when the Supreme Court and many politicians seek to bring American law inline with foreign legal norms, it’s noteworthy that nobody has argued that the US look at how Mexico deals with immigration and what it might teach us about how best to solve our illegal immigration problem. Mexico has a single, streamlined law that ensures that foreign visitors and immigrants are:
•in the country legally;
•have the means to sustain themselves economically;
•not destined to be burdens on society;
•of economic and social benefit to society;
•of good character and have no criminal records; and
•contributors to the general well-being of the nation.
The law also ensures that:
•immigration authorities have a record of each foreign visitor;
•foreign visitors do not violate their visa status;
•foreign visitors are banned from interfering in the country’s internal
politics;
•foreign visitors who enter under false pretenses are imprisoned or
deported;
•foreign visitors violating the terms of their entry are imprisoned or
deported;
•those who aid in illegal immigration will be sent to prison.
Who could disagree with such a law? It makes perfect sense. The Mexican
constitution strictly defines the rights of citizens – and the denial of many
fundamental rights to non-citizens, illegal and illegal. Under the constitution, the Ley General de Población, or General Law on Population, spells out specifically the country’s immigration policy.
It is an interesting law – and one that should cause us all to ask, Why
is our great southern neighbor pushing us to water down our own immigration laws and policies, when its own immigration restrictions are the toughest on the continent? If a felony is a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, then Mexican law makes it a felony to be an illegal alien in Mexico.
If the United States adopted such statutes, Mexico no doubt would
denounce it as a manifestation of American racism and bigotry.
Discuss
source is HERE (http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/opinions/story/3269699p-12066726c.html)
Mexico’s Immigration Law: Let’s Try it Here at Home
By J. Michael Waller
Mexico has a radical idea for a rational immigration policy that most
Americans would love. However, Mexican officials haven’t been sharing that idea with us as they press for our Congress to adopt the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill.
That’s too bad, because Mexico, which annually deports more illegal
aliens than the United States does, has much to teach us about how it handles the immigration issue.
Under Mexican law, it is a felony to be an illegal alien in Mexico.
At a time when the Supreme Court and many politicians seek to bring American law inline with foreign legal norms, it’s noteworthy that nobody has argued that the US look at how Mexico deals with immigration and what it might teach us about how best to solve our illegal immigration problem. Mexico has a single, streamlined law that ensures that foreign visitors and immigrants are:
•in the country legally;
•have the means to sustain themselves economically;
•not destined to be burdens on society;
•of economic and social benefit to society;
•of good character and have no criminal records; and
•contributors to the general well-being of the nation.
The law also ensures that:
•immigration authorities have a record of each foreign visitor;
•foreign visitors do not violate their visa status;
•foreign visitors are banned from interfering in the country’s internal
politics;
•foreign visitors who enter under false pretenses are imprisoned or
deported;
•foreign visitors violating the terms of their entry are imprisoned or
deported;
•those who aid in illegal immigration will be sent to prison.
Who could disagree with such a law? It makes perfect sense. The Mexican
constitution strictly defines the rights of citizens – and the denial of many
fundamental rights to non-citizens, illegal and illegal. Under the constitution, the Ley General de Población, or General Law on Population, spells out specifically the country’s immigration policy.
It is an interesting law – and one that should cause us all to ask, Why
is our great southern neighbor pushing us to water down our own immigration laws and policies, when its own immigration restrictions are the toughest on the continent? If a felony is a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, then Mexican law makes it a felony to be an illegal alien in Mexico.
If the United States adopted such statutes, Mexico no doubt would
denounce it as a manifestation of American racism and bigotry.