Efforts Towards Unifying the United States and Mexico
For the first time in American history, a President is placing Hispanic voters at the
center of politics. George W. Bush has his administration have recently been concerting
their efforts towards unifying the United States and Mexico, a task that has been on the
priority list of past Presidents, but never as full-pledged as Bush.
It makes sense if you think about it: Texas, long ago and far away, was part of
Mexico. Now a Texan is trying to reassemble the Old Country, and then some.
In a major step towards finding a resolution, President Bush invited Mexico's
newly elected President, Vicente Fox, to the White House State Dinner. During Fox's
three day visit to the states, a number of matters were discussed.
The first, and most important to Mexico, is the issue of immigration. In a recent
study by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, there are as many as 8.5 million
illegal immigrants living in the United States today; 54 % came from Mexico.
In a public announcement, Fox stated, "We must and we can reach an agreement
on migration before the end of this very year which will allow us before the end of our
respective terms to make sure that there are no Mexicans who have not entered this
country legally in the United States, and that those Mexicans who have come into the
country, do so with proper documents."
Fox's announcement put some heat on Bush, who has faced fierce pressures from
within his own party against amnesty for undocumented workers in the US, and pressures
from Democrats and Hispanic groups in favor of a color-blind amnesty policy covering
all Latinos, not just Mexicans.
At the state dinner, Fox said he believed his nation and the United States could
come up with a solution together.
"We are going to come up with answers," he said, referring not only to
immigration, but international crime. "I am sure...
