Somebody Close the Door: Reactions to Arizona Immigration Law Misses the Big Picture

[Pooky 3,347]

It indeed raises some good points and I certainly agree with the argument that boycotting Arizona because of this law is nuts and that extremists on the left will try to hijack public dismay at the implications of bringing in such a law for their own bigoted agenda. However, I also believe that the people behind the AZ law are disingenuous even if the motivation behind the law is not racist WHICH I NEVER BELIEVED IT WAS. The law is still a bad law and serves no one in AZ well.

But the lawmakers' contention is that this Bill only enables local and state law enforcement to enforce Federal immigration policy, which Federal agencies are, in large part, either neglecting or unable to carry out. The rest is mainly hot air from illegal alien sympathy organisations.

Instead of blithely ploughing on with immigration "reform", this administration needs to start enforcing the laws we already have and save the affected states enacting laws such as these to enforce it for them.

[Heracles 417]

Almost every shot has trucks, trucks and more trucks. I've never actually seen the US-Mex border but I have seen the US-Can border at Detroit more times than I care to recall... similar scene there too (without the palm trees). Lots of trucks. Truck after truck after truck.

Kinda makes you realize how much trade we do with each other.

Mexico does export quite a bit to the US. Half the things I buy say made in Mexico. Contrary to Steven's belief, NAFTA has worked out well for Mexico.

Nevertheless, as the author of the OP points out, Mexicans need to demand more in their own country rather than wasting their time with the US. When you look at streetview you do notice the country is poorer than the US, obviously no comparison to Aus (had to chuck that in) but certainly far from being India.

80% of Mexico's exports are to the US. Whereas, 11.7% of America's exports go towards Mexico. America's largest trading partner import/export is the EU.

[trillium13 84]

Google just enable streetview from Mexico. Have a look at the border from within Mexico.

I never knew what the border looked like. You really could just walk across. Even the fences don't look too tough.

[Heracles 417]

I never knew what the border looked like. You really could just walk across. Even the fences don't look too tough.

You're telling me. I thought you had like 1,000 feet minimum of no-mans land. Some people's backyards in Mexico are the border fence.

[trillium13 84]

You're telling me. I thought you had like 1,000 feet minimum of no-mans land. Some people's backyards in Mexico are the border fence.

I noticed that, kind of creepy.

[TBoneTX 43,043]

I've crossed the Tex-Mex border many times (through legal POEs -- almost all that there are), and the Rio Grande (river) makes it tougher to cross than it is to cross in Arizona. Even during legal crossing, the bridges between ports can be long enough to walk over, ranging from a couple of hundred paces to over a mile (Del Rio's newly constructed POE). Crossing over at illegal points is largely difficult even when the river itself is no more than a creek: there are riverbanks, rocks, thick growths of carrizo cane & salt cedar, and often a lot of "nuthin'" between crossover & civilization. In contrast, when I went west of El Paso into Nuevo Mexico and crossed at the POE south of Columbus into Palomas, it was only a few steps, because it's a land-crossing with no river. Having a river as an international border makes some difference, si man.

Incidentally, the most dangerous Tex-Mex POE area may well be at Fort Hancock, southeast of El Paso. It's across from some small villages buried in the Mexican hills where there has been NO police protection. The "malos" (bad guys) have taken these places over, and a CBP agent told me by phone that the atmosphere is "completely lawless." This is one analysis that I believe. The County Sheriff & residents of tiny Fort Hancock are anxious-to-terrified about potential spillover, sigh man.

[SuperDuper! 230]

B. Please inform us of the results of the firearms ban in Australia: Did the crime and murder statistics go up or down?