Mexican President Calderone made some excellent points about Immigration when he spoke to Congress today. He addressed some of the causes of immigration and the violence on the border which he said is made easier by the Bush Administration's lifting of the ban on assault weapons.
He expressed his opposition to Arizona's 'Show me your papers' law:
Mexico's Calderon criticizes Arizona immigration law in speech to CongressWASHINGTON - Mexican President Felipe Calderon took his opposition to a new Arizona immigration law to Congress Thursday, saying it "ignores a reality that cannot be erased by decree."
"It is a law that not only ignores a reality that cannot be erased by decree but also introduced a terrible idea using racial profiling," he said to cheers, mainly from the Democratic side of the chamber.
Speaking in English, he warned of the risk when "core values we all care about are breached."
Calderon has called the law discriminatory, and Obama agrees the Arizona law could be applied that way. He has ordered a Justice Department review.
Many people other than Calerone, have spoken about the easy access to assault weapons as contributing to the awful violence related to the drug-trafficing business. If what he says is true about gun shops making these weapons available along the border, then it seems to me that it is insane to expect Mexico to be able to control its criminals as long as the U.S. is basically supplying them with weapons.
I remember Hillary Clinton broaching this subject during the campaign basically confirming what Calerone is saying.
Calderon also got a standing ovation from Democrats when he asked the United States to stop the flow of assualt weapons and other arms across the border and reinstate the ban on many assault weapons that was enacted in 1994 but allowed to expire during the George W. Bush presidency.
He said there are more than 7,000 gun shops along the border where almost anyone can purchase weapons.
Calderon led off his 40-minute speech by emphasizing Mexico's war against narcotics traffickers that has left roughly 23,000 dead since the end of 2006.
But he added that "we cannot ignore the fact that the challenge to our security has roots on both sides of the border." At the end of the day, it is high demand for drugs in the United States and elsewhere that drives much of the illicit trade."
Why are we in Iraq and Afghanistan again? 23,000 dead since 2006 and the media rarely mentions this actual war right on and across the border but spend endless, wasted hours on failed, goofy would-be 'terrorists'.
As for those 7,000 gunshops arming criminals, I hope Democrats while they have the majority will replace the ban on assault weapons.
It is so easy to just be against immigration and to support what AZ is doing. Calderone's visit hopefully will make a few think a little more about the causes and how to fix them.
The failed drug war has not only fed the prison industrial business, it has been the cause of this real brutal war raging right next door.
Legalizing drugs seems to be the only way to end this ....