Here's a topic I know we disagree on...

I'm up early this morning, and took a ride into town for gas and smokes (both of which are up in price... again) and was listening to the satellite radio discussion on immigration concerns in the Obama era.

This discussion prompted me to ask the following question: What is it about the US that makes coming here so much more appealing than anywhere else on the face of the earth?

Is it our freedoms, as defined and guaranteed under our Constitution? While this is important, I'm not sure it is a defining aspect of this nation's appeal to (for the sake of an example) a 24 year-old Mexican male with less than a high school education and no English language skills (an example that makes up more than 70% of those illegals that cross the southern border every day). While nothing to compare to the USA, the United States of Mexico is a functioning representative republic with a constitutionally guaranteed protection of the rights to free speech, worship, citizenship, adequate housing and health care (adequate according to their definition, not mine), and a lower national unemployment rate in rural areas then we have here in the US. Even with the masses of people trying to get from Mexico to the US (illegally and legally), the population is still growing, and the economy is not stagnant. In fact, Mexico saw a real economic boom after the Clinton administration helped sort out their own national currency failure, with companies from all over the world coming to cash in on the cheap labor and low corporate tax rate. Of all three signatory states, Mexico has seen the most benefit from NAFTA, enough to want to co-sponsor a new super-highway from central Mexico all the way to the Kansas for a more streamlined trade route from one country to another. This is still a topic on the table between Mexico and the US, even with the tighter economic times, so things can't be THAT bad in Mexico, right?

Is the appeal of our health care system? I know that there are many liberals who would say yes, but even with the current easy-access system we have now, who could say that it is easier for a Mexican residing in the US illegally to get American health care than it is for a Mexican still in Mexico to get Mexican coverage? Who would argue that it isn't the sick and infirm that are swarming across the border in the dark of night? The 15 to 29 year old majority do not need major medical coverage when they come to the US... the trip alone would make such an effort quite counter productive, I'm sure.

An argument could be made that it is the strength of our currency that is a large draw. Earnings made here in the US and then sent directly to family in Mexico go a lot farther than pesos, even in today's economy. This is a serious problem today, I know... but the numbers don't lie. The bulk of what is earned by illegals in this country stays in this country when it is circulated back into the system through rent, food, transportation, sales taxes, etc. Yes, we lose billions of dollars each year in monies sent out of the country... but not all of it goes to Mexico, even today. China is the biggest winner in that category.

Is the appeal based on our nation's ability to provide endless opportunity for success? Surely, nowhere on earth boasts the freedom of opportunity that the US has... but we aren't the only place to have that plus in our column. Canada, Great Britain, even some European states boast huge immigrant populations that become (as a whole) quite successful, even affluent. Still, this is the reason I believe the vast majority are coming... here there are no limits to where you can go with hard work and dedication.

I haven't had long to digest this thought, but I think the conclusion I came to is that what makes a prospective life in the US that much more appealing than an actual life in Mexico is that there are (still) no limits or boundaries to how far a person can go in the US. Like it or not, I think Mexico still suffers from a colonial-like class system, where those born to a certain station are forced by society to remain in that station, regardless of ability, drive or means.

Home ownership, meaningful employment, expanded educational opportunities are all available to Mexicans in Mexico... and probably far easier (and safer) to come by than those hoped for after a difficult, risky and illegal trip across the Rio Grande or the Arizona desert. I think it is the dream of a truly classless society that is the biggest draw, and I think I have evidence to back it up.

Former Presidente Vicente Fox, and to a lesser degree, the current Presidente Filipe Calderon, have made it very clear that they want to encourage those ready to emigrate out of Mexico to do so, at any cost. The former Presidente's pamphlets on how to successfully enter the US illegally are a great example. What I find telling is the fact that these pamphlets weren't distributed on campus at any of the national universities throughout Mexico, or at hospitals to trained doctors or RNs, or at military or police barracks... they were handed out at welfare venues, work camps, slums in the major cities... and prisons. Yes, prisons! Shouldn't THIS fact tell us all exactly who in Mexico Fox and Calderon are trying to help leave? The poor, the destitute, the unemployed... and apparently the "legally challenged" currently doing time in a Mexican jail. No one in Mexico is trying to get the doctors, teachers, skilled workers, professionals, or affluent to swim the Rio Grande or walk across the New Mexican high desert with "how-to" fliers gripped in their fists, are they?

If the society in Mexico finds it easier to help these poor souls enter the US illegally at great risk to life and limb, what does that tell us about their ability to work towards a better future in Mexico?