With all the political rhetoric going back and forth over immigration nowadays it can be difficult to put things in perspective. We didnt just arrive at his point overnight however and it might be helpful to look at the historical undercurrents that brought us here. The Obama administration may have exploited the problem- but it was one they inherited and didnt create.
With that in mind I have compiled 5 issue-defining quotes based on both US and Mexican government statistics. They help to characterize the true scale of the issue and the thinking behind all decision makers involved.
Numbers
- Mexicans now account for 32 of all immigrants living in this country. The second-largest nationality group of immigrants Filipinos account for just 5 of all immigrants in the U.S."(Pew Research Center)
At over 12 million people from Mexico alone this has been a very disproportionate exodus to be coming from just one country. In fact roughly 11 of everyone born in Mexico now resides in the United States. This is nearly unheard of throughout the world. The next highest number of immigrants to any one country is 12 million total to Russia and most of this influx is shared from over a dozen former Soviet states.
Legal Status
- More than half (55) of the Mexican immigrants in this country are unauthorized" (Pew Research Center)
The European migrant crisis might be getting a lot of news right now but the sheer numbers of unauthorized newcomers to Europe pales in comparison to the volume of illegal immigrants to America. New Arrivals are also integrating this with a much larger population of 508 Million as opposed to the U.S.s 319 Million.
Economic impact
- The following are direct quotes from the Former President of Mexico Vicente Fox himself as he was speaking at a conference for American and Mexican Businessman:
Remittances (Mostly from The US) are our biggest source of foreign income bigger than oil tourism or foreign investment
He went on to say:
The 20 million Mexicans in the United States generate a gross product that is slightly higher than the $600 billion generated by Mexicans in Mexico."
These are billions which are not infused back in the same domestic economy where they were made. It appears some modern newcomers are more likely to straddle the fence" (no pun intended) between the two nations being much less financially and culturally invested in their adopted homeland then is common with immigrants from other parts of the world.
Culture
The following are direct quotes from a University Of Texass Professor Jose Angel Gutierrez during an interview with the Forth Worth Star Telegram. In context he is speaking about Mexican Americans living in the United States:
- The United States came to us in succeeding waves of invasions. We are a captive people in a sense a hostage people. It is our political destiny and our right to self-determination to want to have our homeland (back). Whether they like it or not is immaterial. If they call us radicals or subversives or separatists thats their problem. This is our home and this is our homeland and we are entitled to it."
Going further the professor explained how he saw the Mexican people reclaiming their homeland.
We are millions. We just have to survive. We have an aging white America. They are not making babies. They are dying. Its a matter of time. The explosion is in our population".
Gutierrez is also co founder of La Raza Unida" or The Race United" which advocates for what they believe should be a reclamation of former Mexican lands north of the Rio Grande.
Most Mexican Americans do not share this ridiculous sentiment and This might sound like a fringe group of Hispanic radicals but (particularly as a counter to Trumps Candidacy) you are likely to hear a rise in this type of rhetoric.
Enforcement
- Unless the alien poses a demonstrable risk to national security enforcement actions through the new program will only be taken against aliens who are convicted of specifically enumerated crimes".
This was taken directly from a Department of Homeland Security Internal Memorandum and illustrates the Obama Administrations more lax approach to deportation enforcement. This memo (released in 2014) and Administration Directives like it have been largely seen as contributing factors to the sharp spike in women and small children attempting the dangerous border crossing the following year. Apparently word got out on the street in Mexico and Central America that you would no longer be deported if you were caught by ICE when already in the United States. As a result the numbers of illegals caught at the southern border almost doubled.
Sources
1.Mexican Immigration to the United States (2009) Pew Research Hispanic trends
http://www.pewhispanic.org/2009/04/15/mexican-immigrants-in-the-united-states-2008/
- Remittances are Mexicos biggest source of income says Fox (2003) Luis Alonso Lugo Associated Press
http://legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/mexico/20030924-2051-us-mexico.html
- DHS Memorandum Paragraph 3 (2014) Subject: Secure Communities. Retrieved From:
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120_memo_secure_communities.pdf
- Fanning The flames Page 374 (2004) Peter Christopher Pappas
http://www.fanningtheflamesbook.com
