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Mexican president's blatant
hypocrisy By Lou Dobbs. CNN New York (CNN) -- September 05, 2007. Mexican President Felipe Calderon Sunday demanded the United States surrender its sovereignty, abandon the rule of law and accede to Mexico's inherent supremacy.  Lou Dobbs says Mexican President Felipe Calderon is showing "blatant hypocrisy" on immigration. In his state of the union address to the Mexican nation, Calderon established his imperialistic imperatives: "I have said that Mexico does not stop at its border, that wherever there is a Mexican, there is Mexico. And, for this reason, the government action on behalf of our countrymen is guided by principles, for the defense and protection of their rights." Calderon protested the U.S. government's increased raids on illegal employers of illegal alien employees and work site enforcement. In what is little more than a faint nod to the Bush administration's responsibility to enforce U.S. immigration law, the Department of Homeland Security had planned to send out notices to employers from the Social Security Administration informing them of non-matching records between an employee's name and Social Security number. These employers would then be forced to resolve any discrepancy within 90 days or be required to dismiss the employee or face up to $10,000 in fines for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. But then, ethnocentric advocacy groups and some labor unions, trying to bolster their membership, sued to stop the crackdown on hiring illegal alien workers. A federal judge in California last week issued a temporary restraining order blocking the plan, giving a victory to the AFL-CIO, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center, all of which brought the suit alleging DHS exceeded its authority in making the rule. That U.S. District Court judge ruled as if she were an employee of the Mexican government, rather than the U.S. government. Homeland Security was simply enforcing existing immigration laws. Are we not a nation that follows the rule of law? If not, we're no country at all. Calderon must have been delighted by the judge's decision. Calderon, like his predecessors, Carlos Salinas and Vicente Fox, has failed miserably to establish policies that would create jobs for the Mexican people and to eliminate shameful, unchecked corruption and incompetence in the Mexican government. Don't Miss Even by Mexico's standards, Calderon's blatant hypocrisy is breathtaking. Calderon told the Washington Post more than a year ago that he believes laws are not a relative concept, nor subject to a personal concept of justice. Calderon declared a big difference between himself and his rival for the Mexican presidency, Manuel Lopez Obrador, was this: "I believe in the rule of law." Obviously he does not believe in the rule of U.S. law on U.S. soil. Calderon can't have it both ways. He cannot fail his citizens at home and then act as the Great Imperialist Protector of his citizens who are driven by poverty and corruption to enter the United States illegally. The United States provides Mexico with an annual surplus of $65 billion in trade, an estimated $25 billion in remittances from Mexican citizens living and working here illegally, and at least another $25 billion generated by the illegal drug trade across our southern border. But it is President Bush and this Congress who should be most embarrassed, because they are failing to assert rights for Americans in their own country, rights far short of those demanded by Calderon for his citizens living illegally in our nation. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. Mexico Blasts U.S. Immigration Policies By Traci Carl. The Associated Press. Sunday, September 2, 2007; Mexico City. President Felipe Calderon blasted U.S. immigration policies on Sunday and promised to fight harder to protect the rights of Mexicans in the U.S., saying "Mexico does not end at its borders." The criticism earned Calderon a standing ovation during his first state-of-the nation address. "We strongly protest the unilateral measures taken by the U.S. Congress and government that have only persecuted and exacerbated the mistreatment of Mexican undocumented workers," he said. "The insensitivity toward those who support the U.S. economy and society has only served as an impetus to reinforce the battle ... for their rights." He also reached out to the millions of Mexicans living in the United States, many illegally, saying: "Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico." Since taking office in December, Calderon has maintained strong ties with the United States, but he has often denounced U.S. immigration policy, including more deportations that have divided many families, sometimes forcing U.S.-born children to build new lives in Mexico. In one of the most high-profile cases, illegal immigrant Elvira Arellano was deported recently to Mexico after spending a year in a Chicago church to avoid being sent home. Her 8-year-old son Saul, who is a U.S. citizen, flew to Mexico on Friday to be reunited with his mother and said he plans to stay indefinitely, helping her fight to return to the United States. Calderon addressed the nation Sunday from the National Palace, avoiding a showdown with leftist opposition lawmakers who had vowed to prevent him from making the speech in Congress, as Mexican tradition dictates. Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal declared Calderon the winner of the July 2006 race nearly a year ago, rejecting leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador claims that Calderon's narrow victory was fraudulent. Calderon's predecessor, Vicente Fox, was also blocked last year from making his state-of-the-nation address in Congress after leftist lawmakers stormed the stage and refused to give him passage. The lawmakers claimed Fox unfairly aided Calderon's win, which Fox denied. Both are members of the conservative National Action Party. Lopez Obrador refused to recognize Calderon's eventual victory and declared himself leader of a parallel government. But he has largely disappeared from the public eye amid sharp divisions within his leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party. Calderon, meanwhile, has garnered some of the highest approval ratings in Mexico's history. He said Sunday that Mexico has created 618,000 new jobs since January and needs to do more to close the giant gap between the rich and the poor. He also promised not to let up in his nationwide crackdown on drug gangs who control large swaths of Mexican territory. "We can close our eyes to the reality, and because we are afraid or irresponsible, let organized crime take over our streets," he said. "Or we can decide to fight and defeat crime with all the risks and costs that implies." Source: CNN News & The Associate Press |