Mexican officials insist that any immigration accord with the United States must recognize the contributions that Mexican immigrants make to the U.S. economy.
They should talk. For the most part, the Mexican elites and the political party they control — the once-unbeatable Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI — are still too proud to recognize the contributions that these immigrants make to the Mexican economy.
Last year, Mexicans in the United States sent home about $14 billion. Mexican officials like the fact the dinero is coming into Mexico. Yet, they're ashamed that some of Mexico's bravest and hardest-working citizens have to travel hundreds of miles north to feed their families.
Coming from the opposition National Action Party, Mexican President Vicente Fox has been a breath of fresh air. He mingled with Mexican expatriates in U.S. cities from Phoenix to Minneapolis and repeatedly called these migrants "heroes" for the contributions they made on both sides of the border.
Yet by law Fox can only serve one six-year term. Don't expect to hear such candor if the next Mexican president is Arturo Montiel Rojas, governor of the state of Mexico and someone on the short list to get the PRI's nomination. During a recent visit to Texas to dote on his state, encourage foreign investment and raise his own profile, Montiel met with reporters and editors of The Dallas Morning News and Al Dia, The News' daily Spanish-language newspaper.
The meeting lasted only an hour, but it was enough time for Montiel to underwhelm his audience. The politico might have fared better if not for a handful of Mexican-American journalists who repeatedly challenged his perspective on Mexican immigrants.
Things started to go south — forgive the expression — when I asked Montiel to estimate the impact that remittances from the United States have on his state, which rings Mexico City, and those who live there.
Speaking through an interpreter, he acknowledged that the money makes a significant contribution to many Mexican families. People use the funds to remodel their homes or build new ones, he said. Those who live in resort areas might open bed-and-breakfasts or other businesses. That benefits the whole family, he said.
Then, Al Dia's managing editor asked Montiel whether he supported a proposal to give Mexicans in the United States the right to vote in the 2006 Mexican presidential contest.
Montiel said he opposed the proposal, dismissing it as "not convenient" at this time. He expressed concerns about the costs and practicality and asked how Mexico could control the process of voting in another country. He then blasted away at Mexican officials who, he said, raised the hopes of expatriates by promising them the right to vote.
Here's the back story: That answer had a lot to do with the fact that under such a proposal, Montiel's political party most likely would lose more votes than it would win, given that many Mexicans living in the United States can actually be thought of as refugees from the policies of the PRI.
Then the editor asked the logical follow-up: "Isn't it unfair that Mexicans in the United States pump so much money into the Mexican economy and yet have no say in how the country is governed?"
Montiel dug himself in even deeper. He suggested that Mexicans who wanted to participate in the Mexican electoral process should return to Mexico. Besides, he said, the money sent to Mexico was going into private hands, not into public coffers. It's not like Mexicans are sending home money to build schools or roads.
Actually, Governor, that's exactly what's happening. First, all across the United States, there are so-called hometown associations formed by Mexican citizens that funnel money to support public works projects in towns and villages throughout Mexico. These groups fund everything from roads, bridges, parks, churches and schools to health care centers, sports facilities and convalescent homes for the elderly. But even if all that wasn't taking place, there is no way to separate private and public money.
Mexicans who receive money from the United States spend it in the public square, on food and clothing and repairs to their homes. It's silly to insist otherwise.
The whole exchange reminded me of the enormous differences that still exist between the Mexican elites living in Mexico and the castaways living in this country. And, frankly, it made me thankful that the United States wound up with one and not the other.
