NYT/AP: New Mexico Governor Richardson Decries Border Fence: "Monument to demagoguery"

New Mexico Governor Decries Border Fence
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 7, 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Blasting House Republicans' proposals to control immigration as a ''monument to demagoguery,'' New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson urged the new Democratic Congress to pass a bill securing the border and enabling some illegal immigrants to gain citizenship.

The first step to fixing the immigration system should be reversing legislation signed this fall by President Bush authorizing a 700-mile fence at the Mexican border, said Richardson, who is eying a bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

''The Congress should abandon the fence, lock, stock and barrel,'' Richardson said Thursday in a speech at Georgetown University laying out a four-part plan for immigration overhaul. ''It flies in the face of America as a symbol of freedom.''

A Hispanic border governor, Richardson has been outspoken on immigration as Congress has struggled in the last year to deal with the nation's porous borders....

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''Four realistic steps'' must be taken, Richardson said: Securing the border, increasing legal immigration, preventing employers from hiring illegal workers and providing a path to legalization.

''But we must understand that building a fence will not in any way accomplish that objective,'' he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-On-the-Trail.html

Make the DAMN MEXICAN GOVERNMENT responsible for IMPROVING working conditions and wages in their OWN COUNTRY for their OWN PEOPLE.

Oh, the exquisite irony.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!"

Maybe if U.S. multinationals had not devastated native agriculture in Latin America, the people would not need to flee their land to find work.

The problem is far bigger than the Mexican government.

Why does this kind of talk always come from people who live nowhere near the border?

THE CORRUPT MEXICAN GOVERNMENT HAS ALLOWED TO OCCUR TO THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO. It is NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY of the USA to correct the ills of Mexico and its corrupt government. If YOU don't like the situation in Mexico, do something about IT, just like 'WE' don't like the situation in THIS COUNTRY and 'WE' are doing SOMETHING about IT.

It does not. Multinationals, NAFTA and other trade agreements do not stop at our borders, and neither do the problems they cause for people on either side.

And I don't think you really know anything about day to day life on the border, as it's been for centuries.

maquiladoras south of Tijuana, it is DISGUSTING!!! I used to represent a company that took advantage of the Mexican workers in those communities; after I saw the ABUSE I NO LONGER REPRESENTED THEM. America is failing and has its own serious problems; Mexico and the Mexican people have to put their OWN COUNTRY on the right path to prosperity. Your dog is beautiful!!

for centuries. For example, El Paso does a huge amount of business with shoppers from Juarez.

I'm sorry that you just don't understand that there is no distinction in these problems between "us" and "them" -- they stem directly from U.S. trade policies and multinationals that don't respect borders.

As the saying goes, "Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the United States."

Thanks for your nice compliment about my girl!

our government want to bring democracy to Iraq,why not Mexico,they are much closer and they also have oil?I live near the border anf d the gringos don't mind the cheap labor but they don't want them around after they work their butts off for slave wages,just plain racism.Yes you mimute men and minute hags,you are trailer pArk racist.

Doubt if Congress will okay those funds so the fence will never materialize.

think about the real problems or who did not want to deal with them.

It's an adorable boondoggle. A bouncing baby billions awarded to...?

I think he's on the right track, overall...

1. Securing the border

That's what the fence guys are trying to do -- ineffectively and symbolically, but that's the nominal goal. Really, there's no good way to do this physically with a border the size of the USA's perimeter. That means we're basically looking at improved means of authentication for the authority to trade in goods and services once inside the perimeter.

2. increasing legal immigration

I like this idea, but I admit that I'm probably in a minority in this respect. For example, I think H1B visas are preferable to outsourcing, and better for everyone involved -- employee, employer, USA, and country of origin.

3. preventing employers from hiring illegal workers

THAT should be at the front of the line, since it's the crux of the whole problem, domestically. We need the INS to crack down on these cheap-labor addicts with the same misguided zeal that the DEA currently applies to illegal drug users.

4. providing a path to legalization

Seems to me, this is ultimately part of #2. We already have a well-defined process, it's called legal immigration. Now there are millions of illegals who are already here and have been here for decades, maybe these guys can be fast-tracked for legalization on some kind of general amnesty. Part of the process, though, needs to be a full accounting of who helped them get in, who hired them while they were here, and where they lived from time of entry to time of registration. Then, the INS can cross-reference this information and smoke out the big-time illegal employment racketeers, bust those operations wide open.

it'd do much more good. I saw this proposed and wish this was part of the debate. We provide huge amounts of aid to other countries that are ultimately not friendly toward us. Why not an aid program directed at helping Mexico build a better infrastructure? Help them build schools, roads, hospitals, and clean utilities. With the infrastructure and education in place, their economy will improve and they won't need to cross over into the US for jobs. It'd be cheaper in the long run (and probably the short run). It would also greatly improve the lives of those in Mexico stricken with poverty. The only reason that we aren't doing this is because we depend on the cheap labor here and there.