Stay or go?

A lot of Americans are upset that Mexican President Felipe Calderon broached the controversial subject of immigration during a recent speech to the U.S. Congress and even criticized Arizona’s new immigration law as advancing the “terrible idea” that racial profiling is acceptable.

After all, some argue, the U.S. wouldn’t have a problem with illegal immigration if Mexico was honoring its commitment to provide economic opportunity for her own people. Besides, aren’t Mexico’s immigration policies, which play out on her southern border, much more restrictive than the Arizona law?

Having said that, the relationship between Mexico and the U.S. remains positive and productive. This is a good marriage, one worth preserving and enhancing. Our countries are linked by geography, history, friendship, and trade. As Calderon told lawmakers, “Mexico and the United States are stronger together than they are apart. A stronger Mexico means a stronger United States.”

Calderon claimed that Mexico has created more than 400,000 jobs so far this year, the highest number, he said, ever generated in a four-month period in his country. And he insisted that the aggressive economic reform agenda he has planned for the rest of his term including pension reform and greater infrastructure investment will eventually persuade more Mexicans to stay home rather than head north.

We hope Calderon is right in his assumptions. The U.S. has benefited enormously from Mexican immigrants, whether they came legally or illegally. We prefer they come legally. And we insist on the right to deport those who do otherwise. But no matter how they get here, they bring optimism, work ethic, and sense of daring that has enriched our country. Unfortunately, at the same time, their decision to leave home has impoverished their own.

— The San Diego Union-Tribune