The Alabama Legislature and Gov. Robert Bentley are pounding their chests for passing the nation’s toughest immigration law, but the punk economy north of the border and expanding opportunities south of it were already slowing the rate of illegal immigration.
For the past three decades, Mexicans have migrated by the millions to work in the United States. Now, they are returning home, and young people south of the Rio Grande are staying put.
“I’m not going to go to the States because I’m more concerned with my studies,” said Angel Orozco, who is studying at a new technological institute where he is earning a degree in industrial engineering. All the students in a recent class at the institute said they are better educated than their parents — and they all plan to stay in Mexico rather than go to the United States.
Simple demographic factors are also at play. The average Mexican mother is now having two children rather than nearly seven, as was the case in 1970.
So the number of job seekers has fallen from over a million in the 1990s to 800,000 now, with that number expected to fall to 300,000 in 2030. And the violent drug cartels that control the border have also made the journey crossing the border more dangerous and expensive. Like everything in life, the decision to emigrate involves a cost-benefit analysis. It doesn’t make sense to uproot yourself and your family if the costs have increased and the benefits (job opportunities) have decreased.
Mexico is often depicted as poverty-stricken and violent, but economist Robert Newell tells The New York Times, “conventional wisdom is wrong.” Newell says per capita gross domestic product and family income have each jumped more than 45 percent since 2000.
In addition to tourism, the tequila business has boomed, as well as manufacturing. In 2003, migrants to the north made nearly four times what they could earn at home. That ratio is shrinking. While our recession cut into immigrant earnings in the United States, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, wages have risen in Mexico, according to World Bank figures.
More homes have water and trash services in Mexico, and the number of senior high schools in the state of Jalisco, for instance, has more than doubled from 360 in 2000 to 724 in 2009. Those with a bachelor’s degree or higher in Jalisco have more than doubled as well.
So while young workers have stopped risking life and limb to come north, retirees are moving to Mexico in droves. An estimated 100 million boomers in the U.S. and Canada alone are hoping to retire over the next 20 years. With a low cost of living, great climate and low-cost medical care, Mexico is a desirable choice. It’s predicted that 10 million English-speakers will be living in Mexico by 2022, with the majority of those being people over 60 who are retiring there.
However, retirees will be disappointed if Mexico passes the same sort of immigration law Alabama just did.
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Retirees will be even more disappointed if Mexico starts regulating health care like the United States.
I think there is no question that the younger generation in Mexico prefer to stay there than move to Canada or the US. I’ve traveled a little in the Yucatan and QRoo, and what i’ve seen is amazing. Modern malls, new roads, fantastic public transit. Friendly people, better educated, free public wi-fi at the big parque centrals… . I plan to move there when I retire. Hopefully, they don’t pass any anti-gringo laws.
“However, retirees will be disappointed if Mexico passes the same sort of immigration law Alabama just did.” No, they won’t, because if they move to Mexico they will do so *legally*. Immigrate to the U.S. legally–it’s not asking too much–and you won’t have a problem.
I read somewhere that if you enter Mexico illegally it can result in a two-year prison-sentence. Perhaps the U.S. should adopt Mexico’s law. Sounds fair to me.
The government is an organized crime ringand neither you nor anyone else has any ‘right’ to tell people what they can do on theirs or uninhabited tracts of lands. Don’t be a tool.
@AbolishUnions: No where in my comment did I try to tell anyone what they can do on their or uninhabitated tracts of land. I simply ask (insist, actually) *everyone* to observe & comply with the immigration-laws on the countries that they want to enter and reside in. A very reasonable request.
Come on, he’s just raging against the machine. Don’t mind him. Though, immigration laws should be changed. But, I’m not holding my breath.
Yes, you suggested the US government use coercion to control the movement of labor. What right does the US government have to maintain arbitrary borders?
To enter Mexico legally one does not have to fill out forms, pay money, or wait months, even years, for the approval of some beaurocrat. You simply drive in or walk through a turn style, no id necessary, no questions asked.
Just because something is legal doesn’t make it right, nor does something being illegal necessarily make it wrong. Anything can be made legal or illegal by the stroke of a pen.
Good article! As someone who lived and worked in Mexico (and loved many aspects of my life there), it is good to see these reports.
What is not mentioned is the outrageous corruption still in place, which must be addressed, because it lies at the heart of Mexico’s challenges.
As the US, state-by-state, county-by-county, village-by-village sends the message ‘The rule of law matters. The free ride is over. Mexico must clean its own cage, tend to its own house.’–conditions in Mexico will continue to improve, because the US will cease to serve as a dumping ground for Mexico’s failures.
Nothing cures adolescence like adulthood.
Good for Alabama, and Arizona, and all the other states who have declared that ‘enough is enough’. They are, oddly, the best friends the Mexicans have in the US.
The US, state by state, county by county, village by village is becoming as corrupt, if not more, than any state or city in Mexico. We have our own house to clean, and a large proportion of the immigrants coming from Mexico are quite successful, not failures. If they are taking jobs away from Americans, it is from Americans who did not do well in school or who can not compete with the newly arrived “failures.”
“What is not mentioned is the outrageous corruption still in place”
Aren’t we lucky that we don’t have ” outrageous corruption” here in the US.
Mexico is an interesting place. Big, not at all homogenous, of course. But its government is more corrupt than the US, at least on the state/local levels. (The US gov’t at the top is one of the most corrupt governments in the history of the world, so there’s that.)
Obviously not enough editions of Human Action floating around en español. No biological determinism whatsoever.
1) Corruption is often a good thing. The government is useless, so if you can avoid it through bribes, etc. – good.
2) All of you people who are glad about immigration laws are cranks. I don’t know what attracts you losers to the home of market anarchy.
Go live in the projects for a while and then report back on egalitarianism.
A lot of Americans consider themselves to be members of a priviledged class. They don’t believe in Liberty and Justice for all. They consider the public spaces in this country to be private collectives belonging only to those fortunate enough to be born here, or those able to buy into the privilege.
No, a lot of Americans have travelled the world and, pace cultural Marxists, have realized that Western-style law systems are quite unique, in part a product of Westerners. Zaire is not Belgium, and never will be, and neither is better or worse for it.
That Washington-supremacists of both political machines love the multicultural mixing pot, themselves safely ensconced in their monocultural walled villages, should suffice to get people thinking. Divide et impera.
Marc Faber speaks about México
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eHcgq58nLQ
You do realize that Mexico’s immigration laws are more stringent than the U.S.’s or any state in the nation, don’t you? It is great that Mexico is pulling itself together, but this was just an odd post.
I can’t speak for Mexico itself but all these wonderful news about increasing education, modern infrastructure, et cetera are true of Brazil too… and here it has all the markings of government-subsidized higher-ed and real-estate bubbles.
A crap load of people who can’t even master algebra are getting degrees on the government’s dime based on a sloppy implementation of an age-old (and unrealistic) notion amongst intellectuals that education is some kind of panacea.
Real estate is marketed as “investment” and ever more ambitious projects are brought forth in spite of a growing awareness that prices have entered high orbit. Unemployment is historically, eerily low, suggesting it has nowhere to go but up. Most telling of all, the government is ignoring inflation and pushing down interest rates to try and contain the looming bust.
This looks a lot like the end of the ’70s to me – a false inflation-fueled boom that the everyone is keen on crediting themselves for, and desperate to keep going at any cost, with dire consequences. We’ll see if the lauded “macroeconomic stabilization” will survive the desperate desire to avoid a return to painful reality.
WHERE IS STATE SOVEREIGNTY GOING UNDER THE OBAMA IMPERIAL COURT?
The Democrats have to rely on those extra voters in 2012, whether they are legal or illegal. THIS IS A TRUE FACT THAT CAN BE AUTHENTICATED. The Republican hardliners are already hoping to derail Rep. Lamar Smiths Mandatory E-Verify, so their special interest lobbyists can still get their fair share of cheap labor. These people are coming here and not just through our shared border with Mexico, but by international flights from across the world. Both political parties have their own agendas, with the Liberal Extremists pushing the Department of In-Justice, trying to block the current Alabama immigration policing laws. More state will follow Arizona, Alabama, Georgia and others, but will be enveloped in lies from the other side and the goal of the Obama leadership in crushing any chance of a states sovereignty being upheld. Americans can aid themselves and the millions of their fellow population, by insuring the passage of the mandatory Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2885) in the coming Congressional sessions. This will help to combat the millions of foreign workers now illegally co-existing in the workplace and halting for good profit inspired employers from hiring them.
E-Verify signifies a breakthrough in our immigration laws and the only avenue we have is our vote in pressuring Congress in passing H.R. 2885 Bill. Until this happens, no state is safe for the unbound repetitious force of illegal migrants and immigrants straining America’s welfare and public expenditure resources. By Looking towards California, a state of American success in just 10 years has fallen, moreover unfairly burdened with millions of illegal alien families. They have bled the legal public treasury of billions of dollars in free services. The children of illegal alien parents and the unrelenting onslaught of sponsored–CHAIN MIGRATION has scored deep gashes in the California safety-net. Welfare benefits for the children of illegal immigrants cost America’s largest county in 2010 more than $600 million last year. It is officially claimed the “total cost for illegal immigrants to the Pacific state taxpayers” was more than $1.6 billion in 2010.
Oh! With the Alabama law in full swing, where are the—ECONOMIC—illegal immigrants going? May be California, Nevada and any unrestrictive states, where illegal nationals can raid the welfare systems.
New York is another State with relaxed immigration laws, so it’s no wonder there welfare entitlement commitment is zooming ever higher. Then again, Andrew Cuomo, collected the title of “Architect of Ruin” along with others as Rep. Barney Frank. On Coumo’s watch he pressured banks and financial houses to offer low income, specifically illegal alien’s mortgage loans—even though they didn’t have the means, to pay them back—even they couldn’t qualify with sufficient credit. All this issue was quietly snuggled away into dusty files somewhere, so the public remained in the dark. This had the cause of effect of the rest estate crash that took place in 2009.
Be vigilant of those who confess to be in the true TEA PARTY leadership, as we have been conned before by both sides of the aisle. Making the wrong decision when we vote in 2012, could as well replace Obama with another far right Republican, who are favored by the open border delegations who pour money into their campaigns. We should be nervous of Perry, and the apportionment of money heading in his direction, as he will be capable of swamping the TV channels with unequaled rhetoric. My limited funds will go towards Herman Cain, who is my contender in the race and has a strong plan for our country, including his ambitious D- in relating to his standing opinion, that no illegal alien should be offered amnesty. Romney, Bachmann have also are considered to have excellent records, to finally stop the devastating effect of people from foreign countries pouring into America. The rest of the candidates have poor to abysmal records, while they have been public servants of the people. Much study of the illegal immigration occupation has been accomplished by NumbersUSA, where you can also observe for yourself the outcome.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform has studied these kinds of expenditure nationwide to get an idea of the financial load to local governments, especially at a time when many are grappling with budget deficits. The FAIR organization reported that the cost of illegal immigration stands at about $113 billion a year. Nearly half of that total went toward education costs, according to the study. The outlay was naturally higher in states with large illegal immigrant populations — in California; the total yearly expenditure was pegged at $21.8 billion. This is a repeat performance and is still spiraling upwards uncontrollably, more so since the Democratic State House and Senate have the overwhelming power in Sacramento. All these dollar figures are verifiable through the offices of Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich. Nevada has major illegal alien problems as well, so unless you live in a isolated bubble—your own state has been hit hard as well?
What we spend in court- enforced contributions from our payroll checks is a sad unresolved situation, where illegal immigration is concerned. Having to repeat the same tired mantra of how much is being extorted from all of us, tends to become exhausting; with no relief in sight. Perhaps by looking to leaders of the–ALL AMERICAN-TEA PARTY, of all legal persons, we can expect a different result and cure this phenomenon. That is scattering throughout the industrialized nations of the world. As a country, we must draw a line and say no more economic aliens, who are heavily attributing to the United States poverty. Our economic viability is fading away, so we should only accept winning immigrants of the highly skilled variety, not the poor that we must support with our dwindling dollars.
Don’t expect your neighbor or a friend, to find a few minutes to call the political sock puppets in Washington, as you must contact them accomplished in this fiery issue, as the laws up to this point been ignored for twenty five years. President Obama for a time showed promise with a million or more deportations, but suddenly there was an ominous influence that changed his direction. Unfortunately, the law is not being followed and thousands who came here illegally, but do not carry any criminal blot on their background other than trespassing in our lands, are likely be released. Most countries, not even Mexico allow illegal entry into the country, without being tracked and perceptively be facing a felony wrap. There will be no light at the end of the tunnel, unless we make an effort to pitch the certainty of Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2885). yourself. Unless we pull together–nothing will ever be
There is an unsympathetic attack on E-Verify House bill, that must be overcome by insisting that the Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH); House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA); House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) ; House Chairman of Ways & Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI); & Members of the Ways & Means Committee. You can insist political action on your part, if you are frustrated with the indifference to the people. Call them today as this bill is ready for a reading and must not be tabled. The Washington switchboard at 202-224-3121, will transfer you to any of these lawmakers.
One Old Vet saying, “Stand next to me and you’ll never stand alone.”
MY EARLIER BLOGS: http://brittanicus-enoughisenough.blogspot.com
I thought this was a libertarian website. You want people to have to check in with the government to get approval for anyone they hire? Why is it anyone’s business who I hire with my own money? I don’t owe anyone a job. We allow cheap everything into this country, so why not cheap labor too. How can someone who works so hard in exchange for so little be a drain on the state? That makes no economic sense. The problem is to many entitlement programs, not hard working people.
The Mises were shocked at the poverty and backwardness of the Mexican underclass. Read Margit von Mises My life with Ludwig von Mises. If they got it, why can’t you?
Dan… well said.
It’s amazing there are those who want to blame people (in their pursuit of freedom) for our problems instead of blaming our current system of government.
Here’s an example of our current immigration laws in action.
Fifteen years ago, a young girl leaves her village in Mexico, comes to America, educates herself, finds employment, and along the way falls in love with an American citizen and has two children.
In 2010, she is told (because she came here illegally) she would have to be deported and reapply to enter the U.S. – a process that could take up to two years (of course, she could be denied). At the time, she held out hope that the Obama administration might change some of these rules.
I never saw her again after our discussion…but I felt great anger and contempt towards my country. All I could think was how this young girl wanted something more in life, took great risk, and achieved what so many desire to have…family, security, and opportunity.
Only to have it all taken away by government decree.
Note:
I fail to see how one can be a libertarian, aspire for freedom, and yet deny that same freedom to others. It’s not only a contradiction but a form of hypocrisy.
Mexicans want Americans to retire in Mexico because they
1. American retirees bring money into the economy,
2. American retirees don’t compete with Mexicans for jobs,
3. American retirees don’t have children that need to be educated
4. American retirees have good health insurance (Medicare)
Where is all the love for the State coming from?
But since late last month, Dubrinsky has witnessed an outpouring of support from a different set of strangers. After reading of Dubrinsky’s plight, opponents of the new law have rallied around his deli, leading to one the busiest stretches at the restaurant that Dubrinsky can recall.
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