Why Mexico Remains Mum On Immigration

While the debate over immigration simmers in Washington, Mexico has been strangely silent.  The government, often a vocal critic of U.S. policy in the past, has chosen to sit on the sidelines for a good reason.  Mexico's interests are best served if our nation's southern border remains a sieve.

The reason is that Mexico's economy would crater without the billions of dollars legal and illegal immigrants ship from the U.S. back to their home country.

The flow of money, once a lazy river, has turned into a flood of cash. In 2000, Mexican immigrants pumped $6.6 billion into the hands of relatives in their home country, according to the Bank of Mexico.  In 11 years, the money train chugging south has nearly quadrupled.

Estimates are Mexicans dispatched $23 billion from this country to relatives in their native homeland in 2011.  That figure represents an eight percent increase over the previous year. However, it is down from the peak in 2007 when immigrants funneled $26 billion south of the border.

Each American greenback yields about six pesos under traditional exchange rates.  That increases the purchasing power of Mexican recipients. Without those dollars, Mexico's poverty rates would spike, the country's social development ministry has admitted.

Today immigrant dollars represent the second largest source of income for Mexico.  Only Mexico's oil industry generates more income for the country.

That explains why the Mexican government has no interest in working with U.S. officials to stem the tide of its citizens slipping over the border. In fact, the government published a 32-page guide on  migrating to the U.S., which included a chapter on how to live "unobtrusively" to avoid detection.

This laisser faire attitude has led to millions of Mexicans living and working illegally in our country.  A Pew Research Center study, released last year, found that almost 60 percent of the 11.2 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. are from Mexico.   Illegal immigration is mostly a Mexican problem.

The wave of Mexicans entering the U.S. either legally or illegally represents the largest influx of immigrants from one country in American history, reports Pew.  About 30 percent of the 39.6 million immigrants living today in the U.S. were born in Mexico, estimates the researchers at Pew.  

It is easy to understand why so many Mexicans are bidding their country adios.  According to the United Nations, about half of Mexicans live below the poverty line.  Thirteen million Mexicans are categorized as existing in "extreme poverty."

Instead of addressing ways to increase economic opportunity for its people, Mexico is content to stand idly by as millions of its citizens illegally enter the United States.  With billions of dollars at stake, it is no surprise that the Mexican government vehemently opposes the building of the border fence.

That is why any immigration reform must start with tighter border security.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, a law designed to bolster border security in exchange for granting citizenship for undocumented workers in the U.S. Nearly three million illegal immigrants were granted amnesty under the legislation.

Forty five years after promises of tighter border control, there are 11.2 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., a nearly four-fold increase.  The American people were duped.  Washington politicians were never serious about stopping the influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico.

This time Americans must insist on border security before amnesty.  Safeguarding our nation is more important than protecting Mexico's economy.