Blog @ MoreWhat.com

Typically millions of people visit TJ every year. But this is turning out to be not every year. Economics and financial turmoil have wreaked havoc on the entire planet. Most would say this is something of a natural or cyclical event. But that probably doesn’t mean much to small business owners in Mexico or anywhere else. This blog expresses firm support for immigration enforcement and disdain for those who violate the orderly process of relocating from one country to another, not just in the US.

With that in mind a story is in the news describing the hard times felt by those who operate businesses in Tijuana, Mexico.and it is no less dramatic than other stories of this kind. It is important to address those who believe legal immigration advocates are xenophobic or have some other malady or dysfunctional attribute in order to set the record straight. While there may be xenophobes, racists or hate mongers walking the planet those who genuinely understand the critical importance of strong immigration enforcement in no way lack sympathy for the citizens of Mexico who especially now are dealing with an inordinate amount of difficulty.

In Tijuana’s poorest neighborhoods, known as colonias, people like Socorro Villavicencio struggle to earn a living. She is an indigenous Mixteca Indian from Southern Mexico, 39 years old, with seven children. She sells beaded necklaces and bracelets to tourists, buying her materials with loans from the Christian charity World Vision.

Many people in Mexico operate on a scale and set of circumstances most of us can only imagine. Annual incomes, standard of living, political corruption and an escalation in the drug wars present a level of risk to the average Mexican few have as a challenge in the United States.

“How shall I say it? There are a lot of thieves,” said Socorro Villavicencio. “That’s why the police in the U.S., I see on the news, that they don’t let the Americans cross the border because they say Mexico is dangerous.”

Well, Socorro, it IS dangerous. The danger may be higher these days but it has always been a problem. Personal experience of this blog author can attest to that fact. And again, the other fact is no matter the situation in Mexico it in no way obligates Americans to be labeled xenophobes or worse for their interest in border security and immigration enforcement. It would be nice if people would concentrate their focus on correcting Mexico’s problems rather than allowing those problems to be dumped on American soil for the answer.

You can read the rest of the story of course by following the links provided.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 1st, 2009 at 7:44 am and is filed under Money Matters, Terrorism, wordpress, Immigration, News Media, America, Law, Justice, Opinion, Border Control, Legislation, Mexico, Blogs4Borders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.