Globalization is key to immigration issues

By John Florez
Published: Sunday, May 21, 2006 8:16 p.m. MDT
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I wonder what would have been the reaction if President Bush, instead of calling up the National Guard, had called up all the school crossing guards to patrol the border with their STOP/ALTO signs. The symbolism would have been the same. Securing the border to stop illegal immigration is an important first step, but that's all it is — a first step. It's dealing with a symptom rather than the cause — a changing world economy.

Globalization has jettisoned the United States into the world market arena where it is still trying to cope with change. The World Wide Web has blurred national boundaries allowing cultures, knowledge and values to be shared among nations and creating opportunities yet to be discovered. Change driven by information, technology and demographics has made the laws, customs and institutions that have guided our lives, outdated for today's world. We live in a "flat world." Thomas Friedman describes how the Internet has created world platforms with the successful nations sharing knowledge and resources to create new innovations.

We find the United States struggling to keep its place in the world market with countries such as China and India now successfully competing for the "good" paying jobs we once took for granted. Today, our adults worry if tomorrow they will have their once-secure job, a pension and the ability to pay their children's college tuition. More and more, jobs left behind are the service jobs that cannot be exported. As the cost of living has risen, consumers have looked for less-expensive goods. The high-end stores are struggling while the Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam's and Target stores are growing.

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Americans, in trying to make ends meet, shop for low prices; and business people work hard to stay competitive, some by taking advantage of broken immigration laws that let them seek out immigrants willing to work for cheap wages — all possible because U.S. politicians have looked the other way and not enforced immigration laws. In the meantime, Mexican politicians seem eager to accommodate U.S. business with their laissez-faire approach to managing their northern border. It is an easy way to manage their poor population and, at the same time, let their economy grow from the $20 billion Mexican immigrants now send back home. Mexico must make greater efforts to provide "stay-at-home" economic and educational opportunities for its people.

Both governments have exploited the exodus of poor Mexicans to America, but 9/11 has made Americans incensed over the problem and demanding solutions. It has forced politicians to protect their borders, their tax dollars and their way of life. Washington politicians are scurrying to find quick fixes with tough talk, walls, and more patrols and laws.

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