``...Yet another indicator how reactionary this country has become. If I were to choose between jingoistic nativism and neo-liberalism I would not even think twice...'' Wojtek
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So think beyond the reactionary choice between jingoistic nativism and the gross labor exploitation of neo-liberalism. See illegal immigration as the joint Mexico-US government war on trans-national labor and welfare for trans-national capital.
How about abolishing the border and radicalizing the lowest levels of the working classes on both sides via unionization, environmental controls, raising health and safety standards, providing a welfare safety net, and in-depth intra-governmental controls on industrial development.. etc, etc.
Well, just a thought.
Last night I was at my son's place for dinner and brought some black beans to go with the spanish rice, bbq chicken, guacamole and tortillas. Candy, my daughter-in-law's mother (Mexican-American immigrant) made a garnish of tomatoes, onions, serranos and cilantro formed in thick bands of red, white and green. I gave them a hard time for not going to the local demos and rally---as a joke on their complete lack of political awareness. Yet, Candy had made the garnish unconsciously as a decoration in the form of the Mexican flag. Dinner conversation wondered back and forth between bad English and bad Spanish.
Half the family lives in Mexico and the other half here. They go back and forth all the time. Half the year Candy spends with her son and his family who live in Nuevo Laredo where Candy owns a house (in her Mexican brother's name).
What most people in the US don't understand is that many Mexicans don't like living in the US but live here for the work and the money to send back home. They go home whenever they can afford the trip and time.
The point is that erasing the border and bringing northern Mexico up closer to US labor and living standards would not result in a mass influx of immigration. Such a program might even cause a drop in immigration. Of course it would raise hell with neoliberalism.
CG