Enough Blame to Go Around

Even Mexican legislators admit that Mexico has done little to control its side of the border (as if that weren't perfectly obvious).

Mexican lawmakers told their American counterparts this weekend that Mexico has not done enough to stop the flow of illegal aliens across the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly non-Mexicans who first illegally cross Mexico's southern border.

“For the first time, the Mexicans really acknowledge this is a two-way problem and has to be dealt with on both sides of the border, and I've never really heard them say that before,” Rep. Jim Kolbe, Arizona Republican, said yesterday after returning from a weekend meeting of the Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group.

American lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the flow of OTMs, or “other than Mexicans” in Border Patrol terminology, being captured by the U.S. Border Patrol after they have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Officials say many of those OTMs have first illegally crossed Mexico's 750-mile southern border with Guatemala and Belize.

“What I heard was a concession or an admission they are not yet able to [control that border], which is hardly surprising because it's just a fact of life,” said Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, who along with Mr. Kolbe led the U.S. delegation of three senators and 10 House members that met in Rhode Island this weekend with 17 members of Mexico's Congress.

Of course, Representative Kolbe and Senator Cornyn should count themselves equally responsible for the border mess since neither has taken any effective action to stop the collapse of our southern border.

The illegal migration of millions of Mexicans into the US is a serious problem, altering the nation's demography, filling its prisons, crushing its social welfare system and causing a drastic drop in wages for the lower class. For those reasons alone, the border should be closed and patrolled by every asset available to the US government. However, the influx of so many non-Mexicans should send tremors of fear through Washington, since it indicates that other foreigners have grasped America's greatest vulnerability and are infiltrating the country. If, as President Bush has so often warned the American people, we are at War with fanatics who want to destroy us, why has he not addressed this issue? Surely, it would not take much for al-Qaeda operatives to get into Mexico and then cross the Rio Grande? In fact, US intelligence has already warned Washington of that very possibility. Either President Bush doesn't really think we are at war - in which case his rhetoric amounts to scare tactics - or he has decided that gaining a greater share of the Hispanic vote for the GOP is worth more than the thousands of American lives that would be lost in another major terrorist attack. Either reason amounts to malfeasance of office.