Monday, April 04, 2005

The return of the Minutemen....

Earlier, I posted about the Minutemen patrolling the border in Arizona. It was also mentioned by prominent bloggers and other interesting blogs. Since I first posted, Morning Edition has run a second story on the Minutemen. I can understand how some people concerned about immigration might be frustrated by the porousness of the border, but I'm almost certain that allowing volunteers to patrol the border is not a good band-aid.

If you're interested in reducing demand, increase penalties for employers that hire illegals. If you're interested in reducing supply, do more to boost the rural Mexican economy. Offer special tax incentives for firms willing to invest in the states that send the largest proportion of immigrants. Mexican states like San Luis Potosi, Aguascalientes. Driving south from Texas to Mexico City, I can understand why many Mexicans migrate to the States. There are long streches punctuated by tiny towns with no apparent means of economic development.

Last fall, when the Fox administration released a booklet for migrants, it made a big splash in the U.S., at least on Fox News Channel. Brian sent me the link to the online version, so I thought I'd tell you what the booklet really says.


Image from www.sre.gob.mx

The booklet tells migrants to take lots of water, not use coyotes (smugglers), not carry weapons or firearms, and not to lie to immigration officials if they are stopped. They also tell men not to beat their wives or children because the police can arrest you and take your children away. They also explain that all searches of your home require a search warrant, and that if you are arrested, you have a right to request a lawyer. All very sensible advice.

The booklet itself was written in the format of a small comic book, which are very popular among working-class men here. Often, the Spanish is filled with slang references or spellings, and always the women are scantily clad. To give you a sense, there is a series called "Luchas Calientes y las gordas del ring" [Hot wrestling, and the fat chicks of the ring] in which Mexican wrestlers, complete with spandex and masks, seduce or take various women.

For the most part, the government booklet gives factual information about the dangers of crossing the border and certainly does not glorify the process. The most damning evidence that the booklets are really going to encourage migration is the way that they depict women. The Mexican women in the booklet are modest, pretty, but not too curvy. The American women, however, look just like a character out of Luchas Calientes. You can see for yourself below.

Mexican woman

Image from www.sre.gob.mx

U.S. woman

Image from www.sre.gob.mx

I personally perfer the Mexican woman's style to that of the U.S. woman, but I fear that Mexican men do not have such good taste.

The entire booklet is online, and you can listed to radio announcements, too.

posted by Michelle @ 11:23 AM,

2 Comments:

At 4/13/2005 11:57 AM,  Michelle said...

Sorry for the delay. But.... Respectfully, I disagree. No, I don't agree that putting the national guard on the boarder will help. It will only make smugglers become more crafty and more would-be migrants would die. We will never be able to completely seal the border, and anything we do to make crossing more difficult, will only lead to more death.

I do think it makes more sense to target employers and hit them hard with large fines that would erase any savings they earn by hiring illegals. I think it would be easier to fine restaurants, builders, and other would be employers of illegals than finding all the illegals or stopping them from crossing the border. For one, these business are ususally located in one place, unlike the migrants. They usually are incorporated into the formal sector and pay taxes, unlike (many) migrants.

If employers stopped hiring, the jobs would dry up. The demand for workers would be reduced. Migrants would stopping trying to cross. Migrants have information about the availability of jobs, but seldom do they have information about which smugglers will leave them trapped in a trailer in the desert in July. And in that light, we should understand that by educating Mexicans about the dangers of crossing (as the government pamphlet mentioned in my post does), the government is actually trying to depress the numbers of people trying to cross the border.

 

At 7/28/2007 9:35 PM,  Anonymous said...

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