In 1995 Mexico's Minister of the Exterior, Jorge G. Castañeda wrote a piece in the Atlantic Monthly entitled "Ferocious Differences" in which he offered some profound insights into the socio-economic reality of Mexico. Among other things he discusses the shocking level of economic inequality and social segregation in Mexico:
"Mexico is a society terribly riven by class, race, gender, age, region, and future, in which a middle- and upper-class minority segregates and discriminates against the vast majority of the population. It is one of the most unequal societies around, though not one of the poorest."
"There is, of course, a middle class in Mexico, but it constitutes a minority of the population: somewhere between a quarter and a third. The majority -- poor, urban, brown, and often without access to the main attributes of modern life in the United States and other industrialized countries (public education, decent health care and housing, formal employment, social security, the right to vote and serve in government, jury duty, and so forth) -- mingles with itself. It lives, works, sleeps, and worships apart from a small group of the very wealthy and a larger but still restricted middle class."
And most interestingly he presents s view of Mexican immigration that is remarkably similar to that of right wing Americans, namely that uncontrolled immigration serves as a critical safety valve that allows Mexico to avoid economic and social collapse. In other words, the Mexican Government maintains stability by outsourcing the responsibility of providing jobs, education and health care to millions of its poorest citizens to the United States. In addition, the remittance of these hard working immigrants provides billions of dollars for the Mexican economy.
"Any attempt to clamp down on immigration from the south -- by sealing the border militarily, by forcing Mexico to deter its citizens from emigrating, or through some federal version of California's Proposition 187 -- will make social peace in the barrios and pueblos of Mexico untenable. The United States has traditionally made the right choice between what it considers two connected evils: Mexican instability and Mexican immigration. It fears both but clearly prefers the latter, knowing that the former would only worsen matters."
Inadvertently he also touched upon an area of tremendous contention for the hand full of Americans who follow Mexican government policies: the utter disregard for the sovereignty and sentiments of the American people. He treats large scale, unrestricted immigration from Mexico as an inevitable phenomena that the American public has no right to contest or control:
"Some Americans -- undoubtedly more than before -- dislike immigration, but there is very little they can do about it, and the consequences of trying to stop immigration would also certainly be more pernicious than any conceivable advantage."
Unfortunately Mr. Castañeda fails to grasp the most important implications of his strategy of using immigration as a social and economic safety valve for Mexico:
First, this strategy allows the Mexican government to avoid the essential task of reforming its political and economic system. The prospect of a growing population of unemployed, uneducated citizens that do not have the option of seeking their fortunes in the United States would provide a large incentive for Mexico's elite to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth.
Second, he fails to ask if this strategy is a viable long term solution, because it's contingent on the US government maintaining open borders against the will of American voters. Many Americans look at Mexico's economic situation and are quite skeptical about the claims of open border advocates that increasing the supply of cheap labor is a viable strategy for sustained economic development.
And lastly Mr. Castañeda fails to see the irony that the Mexican government has encouraged Mexican immigrants to demand political and economic rights and reform within the United States, yet the same government has responded with great hostile when its own citizens seek those sames rights within Mexico.
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97feb/mexico/castaned.htm
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