{"id":16644,"date":"2020-12-07T15:11:27","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T20:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/?p=16644"},"modified":"2020-12-07T15:35:42","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T20:35:42","slug":"ajc-atlanta-journal-editorial-for-open-borders-free-low-of-labor-the-ultimate-goal-of-any-white-house-policy-ought-to-be-a-north-american-economic-and-political-alliance-similar-in-scope-and-ambi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/2020\/12\/07\/ajc-atlanta-journal-editorial-for-open-borders-free-low-of-labor-the-ultimate-goal-of-any-white-house-policy-ought-to-be-a-north-american-economic-and-political-alliance-similar-in-scope-and-ambi\/","title":{"rendered":"AJC (Atlanta Constitution) editorial for open borders\/free low of labor: “The ultimate goal of any White House policy ought to be a North American economic and political alliance similar in scope and ambition to the European Union”."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Unemployment line, 2020. Photo: CNBC<\/p><\/div>\n

“The ultimate goal of any White House policy ought to be a North American economic and political alliance similar in scope and ambition to the European Union.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Atlanta (Journal) Constitution newspaper<\/p>\n

Constitution Home Edition
\nFriday, 9\/7\/2001
\nEditorial
\npage A18<\/p>\n

OUR OPINIONS: Bush, Fox should pursue union similar to Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n

\/ Staff,<\/p>\n

Mexican President Vicente Fox envisions a North American economic alliance that will make the border between the United States and Mexico as unrestricted as the one between Tennessee and Georgia.<\/p>\n

Though neither Fox nor President Bush expects to dissolve the 2000-mile border overnight, the Mexican leader clearly prefers sooner rather than later. In Washington this week, Fox surprised his friend and fellow rancher president by calling for sweeping American immigration reform by year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Currently, U.S. government immigration policy echoes its position on gays in the military: Don\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell. The nation essentially winks at the estimated 3 million illegal Mexican immigrants toiling in fields, poultry plants and construction sites. If America cracked down and rounded up all those workers, the nation\u2019s agricultural and construction industries would collapse, says Jagdish Sheth, Emory University\u2019s Kellstadt professor of marketing.<\/p>\n

Despite American dependence on their labor, undocumented workers still live in the shadows and under threat of deportation, and Fox is right to insist that Mexicans working, paying taxes and obeying the law have \u201dall their legal rights when they\u2019re living here in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those rights don\u2019t have to spring from legal residency. Some sort of temporary guest worker visas stand a better chance with congressional conservatives than the blanket amnesty suggested last month by the White House. Opponents shot down that trial balloon before it even cleared the tree tops.<\/p>\n

In the short-term and during this country\u2019s economic downturn, Bush ought to concentrate on a work permit program that concedes the need for Mexican workers but imposes controls to stem illegal crossings. By loosening border restrictions, Mexicans may eventually return to their homeland, a journey that now entails too many perils. Reflecting the new policy of encouraging citizens to return, Fox said Thursday, \u201cWe need you to come home one day and play a part in building a strong Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United States also must play a part in sustaining Mexico\u2019s economic growth. \u201cFor marginal workers, leaving his or her country is not an easy proposition. It is not a lark. It is a risky, dangerous proposition, \u201d says Juan M. Del Aguila, an Emory University associate professor of political studies. \u201cIf we can create incentives for them to stay in their own country, many of these potential immigrants would.\u201d<\/p>\n

In boom states like Georgia, it\u2019s been painless to absorb Mexican immigrants. But in the unlikely scenario that the economy hits the skids, migrant labor \u2014 whether illegally coming from Mexico or legally from rural Alabama \u2014 could snatch jobs away from the local unskilled labor pool.<\/p>\n

; ” Unlike the varied landscapes and cultures of European Union members, the United States, Canada and Mexico already share a great deal in common, and language is not as great a barrier. President Bush, for example, is quite comfortable with the blended Mexican-Anglo culture forged in the border states of Texas, California and Arizona.<\/p>\n

Of the three North American players, the United States clearly holds the place of dominance. By joining with its neighbors to the north and south, the United States would have the strongest voice in coordinating fiscal, energy and drug enforcement polices that affect the continent.<\/p>\n

An erroneous public perception exists that Mexico would be the main beneficiary of a U.S.-Mexico partnership. In the aftermath of the 8-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico has become the third-largest importer of Georgia products, $1.2 billion worth of goods last year. Mexico is the United States\u2019 second-largest trading partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cFundamentally, our economic integration with Mexico is inevitable, \u201d says Emory\u2019s Sheth. \u201cOut of nowhere, Mexico has become a $200 billion a year trade partner. We think that will grow to $500 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the European process, not all countries benefit equally all the time, \u201d says Del Aguila. \u201cBut the commonwealth as a whole has improved, the standard of living has risen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Historically, immigration has enriched America culturally and economically, as demonstrated most recently by the Cubans in South Florida. The challenge with Mexico is to better manage the natural flow of a people who are not only America\u2019s fastest-growing immigrant group, but also its closest neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur choice is to fight it and lose, \u201d says Georgia State University economics professor David Sjoquist, \u201cor embrace it and all come out better for it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The ultimate goal of any White House policy ought to be a North American economic and political alliance similar in scope and ambition to the European Union.”   Atlanta (Journal) Constitution newspaper Constitution Home Edition Friday, 9\/7\/2001 Editorial page A18 OUR OPINIONS: Bush, Fox should pursue union similar to Europe \/ Staff, Mexican President Vicente […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16644"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16659,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16644\/revisions\/16659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}