[thenightwriterblog] The Night Writer: Two Mexicos, two stories

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Posted by The Night Writer:
Two Mexicos, two stories
http://thenightwriterblog.powerblogs.com/posts/1172532494.shtml


   There's in interesting confluence between [1]Chad the Elder's post
   today on Fraters Libertas and an article in the Washington Times, also
   from today. The globe-trotting Chad, currently in Chihuahua, recounts
   a rant by his Mexican host describing the "two Mexicos" and his
   opinion that the Mexicans working in the U.S. are not the same as
   those back home:

     "Let me tell you something; they're not real Mexicans. You see,
     there are two Mexicos. This...us...here...THIS is the real Mexico.
     Them? They're not really Mexican."

   Those in the States may be different, but they are a significant
   percentage of the population, according to the Times article: more
   than 10 percent of the Mexican population is currently in the U.S.,
   including more than 14 percent of the country's workforce, and they
   send home $23 billion a year. Nevertheless, [2]some of those back home
   are lonely:

     Mexican wives want U.S. to return husbands
     By Stephen Dinan
     THE WASHINGTON TIMES
     February 26, 2007
     The women of Tecalpulco, Mexico, want the U.S. government to
     enforce its immigration laws because they want to force their
     husbands to come back home from working illegally in the United
     States.
     They have created an English-language Web page where they identify
     themselves as the "wetback wives" and broadcast their pleas, both
     to their men and to the U.S. government.
     "To the United States government -- close the border, send our men
     home to us, even if you must deport them (only treat them in a
     humane manner -- please do not hurt them)," it reads.
     In poignant public messages to their husbands, the women talk about
     their children who feel abandoned, and worry that the men have
     forsaken their families for other women and for the American
     lifestyle.
     "You said you were only going to Arizona to get money for our
     house, but now you have been away and did not come back when your
     sister got married," one woman writes to a man named Pedro. "Oh how
     I worry that you have another woman! Don't you love me? You told me
     you love me."
     It's a stark reminder of an often forgotten voice in the U.S.
     immigration debate -- the wives, children, parents and villages
     left behind as millions of workers come to the U.S., many of them
     illegally. The plea also underscores the dual effects of migration
     on Mexico: Its economy needs American jobs as an outlet for
     workers, but determined, able-bodied workers get siphoned out of
     Mexico.
     More than 10 million Mexican-born people, or nearly one out of
     every 10, was living in the United States in 2005. And as a
     percentage of the work force it's even higher: One in seven, or 14
     percent, were here, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
     The institute said 77 percent of Mexican workers in the U.S. were
     younger than 45, and 70 percent were men.
     Villages devoid of men between 20 and 50 are common in many parts
     of the country. The stories of single mothers struggling to raise
     their children are just as frequent.
     ...
     But for now, Mexico is also addicted to the influx of cash. In
     2006, Mexican workers in the United States sent $23 billion back to
     their families in Mexico, an amount that rivals Mexico's foreign
     income from oil sales.

   All in all, it sounds like a theme that can turn [3]Kevin Ecker into a
   "family values" guy.

References

   1. http://www.fraterslibertas.com/2007_02_01_archive.html#8208318108920949347#8208318108920949347
   2. http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20070226-010345-3459r
   3. http://www.eckernet.com/2007/01/dhs_having_problems_securing_large_border_tunnels.html