Mexican Economic Woes Complicate Illegal Alien Debate

(CNSNews.com) - Charges of election fraud have heightened tensions over Mexico's future as American politicians debate what to do about illegal immigrants arriving from Mexico. But while the Mexican presidential election results are headed to court, it's time for the U.S. to adopt a different approach toward its neighbor to the south, according to a Latin American expert from Georgetown University.

Instead of linking illegal immigration to America's national security interests, U.S. politicians should be more concerned about how an unstable Mexican economy will affect those national security interests, said Arturo Valenzuela, director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown. He spoke at a panel discussion at the Center for American Progress on Friday.

"A whole host of domestic policies and other kinds of considerations come into the bag and it makes it very difficult to think about all interests in regard to Mexico."

"Who in the immigration debate has stood up and said, 'Wait a minute, Mexico's going through one of the complex transitions that is taking place in the world today. It is in our fundamental interests that Mexico be a stable, prosperous country in the future," he said.

However, many conservative politicians want immigration reform to concentrate on border enforcement first. As Cybercast News Service previously reported, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Education Secretary William Bennett and other conservative leaders wrote President Bush in June, stating that "we need proof that enforcement (both at the border and in the interior) is successful before anything else happens."

At Friday's panel discussion, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico James Jones said a focus on Mexico's internal problems needs to be combined with an emphasis on preventing American employers from hiring illegal aliens.

"If we really were serious about stopping immigration, we would do two things: one, we would help Mexico develop the economic opportunities in its own country, and two, we would have tamper-proof identity cards for people in the United States and a very strict enforcement against employers," Jones said.

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