| Dying to Get Here |
19 May 2003
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Illegal Aliens Die in Trailer
Smuggling is an ugly business, and when humans are the cargo, it is at its ugliest. Last week, 18 Mexicans were found dead a container that had been over-filled with people trying to sneak into the US. What is most troubling is the fact that they needn't have died at all; had the US and Mexico worked out a decent guest-worker plan, they would never have been in that trailer.
The Bush administration has done a poor job of dealing with Mexico. This is a surprise because Mexican President Vincente Fox is pro-American, and Mr. Bush was a Texan before he moved to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Yet relations between the two are frosty.
Eventually, both countries are going to have to admit something neither wants to face; Mexico has a young and ambitious population and the US has a need for labor that domestically cannot be met. The reasons for both situations are intricate, tedious, and in the end, unimportant.
It must be made easier for Mexican citizens to move to the US for a few years, as many do before they return home with their pockets stuffed with dollars made from jobs the Yankees don't want. There must be mechanisms for those who wish US citizenship. And there must be a way for US employers to get Mexican citizens to come that does not require the huge rigamarole currently necessary.
Like it or not, the largest economy in the world shares a very long and porous border with a relatively poor nation. Sealing the border, even if it were feasible, does not address America's need for workers. Life has given these neighbors lemons; it is passed time to make lemonade.