Steve's EZ Debate Immigration strategy is based on the same application of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo presented in analyzing the treatment of workers crossing the border and facing S.B. 1070 in Arizona in 2010.
Image of a painting by Twin Cities artist Ray Roybal
I believe that the only proper way to view cross-border migration between the United States and Mexico is to adhere to the spirit and the letter of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. If we do this, we can not only address the current reaction to the interactions at the border, but we can put in place a solution that reflects the best hopes and aspirations of our two countries. I agree with the remarks of Attorney General Eric Holder declaring the Arizona statute unconstitutional.
"We have an immigration policy that takes into account a whole variety of things: international relations, national security concerns, and it is the responsibility of the federal government,as opposed to states doing it on a patchwork basis to decide exactly what it is that our policy should be with regard to immigration."
- U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder
Our Mexican immigration policy rests on the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This international context Holder refers to, without identifying it, is the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. To begin with this treaty gives to the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, the right to ask the U.S. to treat Mexicans properly, because that was agreed under the treaty. It is no affront to Arizona or any other state, for the President of a signatory country who still has close ties to our own to require that the the treaty be the guide to the relations of our two peoples, and the treatment of his own--although partisan applause will naturally inflame passions on this issue.
Indeed, the real issue is not a push-back against the Mexicans and former Mexicans, by some citizens in some of the states, because of the economic downturn and the political climate. And we can go back and see how the forced repatriation of the 1930’s of American citizens to Mexico, and the Bracero program during WWII, and afterward, violated the rights of Mexican American citizens. What the present climate is doing is really damaging the economy of Arizona, and making a barren wasteland of the border.
And as Pres. Obama said a few days ago, Arizona SB1070, which some Minnesota lawmakers want to pass here, has "the potential of violating the rights of innocent American citizens and legal residents, making them subject to possible stops or questioning because of what they look like or how they sound." It's more than just potential, it is racial profiling.
The treaty provides a basis for is economic rights of Mexicans and Chicanos throughout the region, with language and cultural rights, the treaty uses the phrase, “the character of Mexicans.” If we do this, we can build that oasis of freedom and economic development along that border rather than a wall. It can attract workers from both sides of the border.
Chicanos should play a greater economic role, through affirmative action, and also Mexican companies, through joint ventures on both sides of the border.
Border states who opt into this proposal if passed into law, can prosper from a variety of industries, rather than just building fences. Now, this fence is a bonanza for some local residents, who in some cases can reap astronomical figures per mile for building and maintaining the fence and manning the fence and apprehending those coming across the border. It’s a major industry, unfortunately, in many places, and changes the economics of the region in very negative ways.
My proposal, Five-Point Proposal for Federal Border Legislation. based on the spirit and principles of the treaty, as well as the letter of the law, would change those economics in positive ways, and actually help Arizona and other states. Besides, it’s in the nation’s best interests.
