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I have been silent for quite a long time. This is because I’ve been in Monterrey, Mexico studying Spanish. Of course, my views on immigration have been affected by this experience. I’ll share two observations here.

First, from this excellent article: “In all the video footage I have seen of people crossing illegally from Mexico, of people arrested, the faces look more Indian than Spanish. Most of the illegal immigrants from Mexico may be mestizo, racially, but Indian features predominate. And isn’t that curious? The Indians are illegally coming into the United States. Indians will always wander in the Americas and they should. One lasting effect of illegal immigration, I believe, is that we will come to see America within the Americas…. Brown illegal immigrants with Indian faces may usher the Georgian and the Virginian to a recognition that they now live within the New World—an illegal idea—and not in some distant colony of England.” I have now lived in the three major border metropolises, San Diego, El Paso, and the lower Rio Grande Valley. But not until living in Monterrey did I realize that during all that time when I was on the border, only the Morenos are present. They are living among the Anglos (or the Anglos are living among them), of course, but you will not find the Rubios or the Gueros among immigrants. Monterrey, only a two hour drive from the border, is half blonde; half the city defies racial classification. If I forget which country I’m in, I’d say they are Caucasian.

Second, if the restrictions of the border go away, most of the problems of the border will go away. Our nation would be much better if the border became more like Mexico. I love the border and will likely live my life on it, but the interior of Mexico is much closer to what most people want the U.S. to be (educated, professional, clean, wealthy) than is the border. And I’m talking about the U.S. side of the border.

Of course, if neither of these things were true, people still have the right to seek life, liberty, and property, and for many that requires coming to the U.S.

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