If you look closely you will see that this actual copy of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo begins "In the name of Almighty God" and "En el nombre de Dios Todo-poderoso."
We ratified this treaty in Spanish and English, to create new territories in the United States of America. What a promise. And how many Mexicans, as United States citizens have sanctified this treaty with their blood in service to this nation.
"The United States of America and the United Mexican States, animated by a sincere desire to put an end to the calamities of the war which unhappily exists between the two Republics, and to establish upon a solid basis relations of peace and friendship, which shall confer reciprocal benefits upon the citizens of both, upon the concord, harmony, and mutual confidence, wherein the two peoples should live, as good neighbors" drafted and ratified this treaty in both languages.
My position on immigration reform, which will be the basis of the federal legislation I propose, is that insofar as is possible today, we should abide by our honor and our word given in this solemn treaty. We must get this old treaty out and discuss it, especially during this tough economic time and political discord. We must mend the border and the relations between our people. The treaty guides us in the way we must follow.
The treaty, which created and defined the current border itself, reads in part as follows:
Article VIII
"Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the limits of the United States, as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to remove at any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said territories, or disposing thereof, and removing the proceeds wherever they please; without their being subjected, on this account, to any contribution, tax or charge whatever.
"Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories, may either retain the title and rights of Mexican citizens, or acquire those of citizens of the United States. But, they shall be under the obligation to make their election within one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty: and those who shall remain in the said territories, after the expiration of that year, without having declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans, shall be considered to have elected to become citizens of the United States.
"In the said territories, property of every kind, now belong to Mexicans, not established there, shall be inviolably respected. The present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who may hereafter acquire said property by contract, shall enjoy with respect to it, guaranties equally ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the United States.
Article IX
"The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what is stipulated in the proceeding article, shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States, and admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States. In the meantime, they shall be maintained and protected in the enjoyment of their liberty, their property, and the civil rights now vested in them according to the Mexican laws."
Before our U.S. Civil War, we recognized civil rights and constitutional rights of the Chicanos, those living in what would be the U.S. territories. I want to honor this treaty, and if elected to Congress I will do just that, so help me God. This is part and parcel of our U.S. Constitution, because just like the Fourteenth Amendment so many calamitous years later, it extended those civil rights and Constitutional rights to those Mexicans who would embrace America. It is the forerunner of the Civil Rights Act, and as it goes, so will civil rights in this country, it is now clear.
Instead of politics as usual in Washington, we must follow our better angels.
