As you might imagine, I receive
plenty of interesting mail, both positive and negative,
from a diversity of sources. I’ve gotten angry letters
from Hispanic readers (here
and
here) and from
a naturalized American citizen from Mexico. One
letter writer
told me to go back to Iraq and die. (I
served there with my
Texas-based National Guard unit). Some Americans
have called me
a traitor .
On the other hand, I’ve received
letters from Mexicans who agree with me, and from a
Mexican-American who says I’m not hard enough on
Mexicans and Mexican-Americans!
I’ve also received mail from fellow
gringos in Mexico. Not all of them are in agreement with
each other. Some
Americans in Mexico don’t really care about U.S.
immigration policy or keep up with it, some support open
borders, and others, like myself, are
staunch restrictionists. After my article about the
Gringo Colony of San Miguel, Mexico—I argued that it
is in no way comparable to the Mexican invasion of the
U.S.—I received some critical letters from an American
resident there.
Recently, I’ve received some more
interesting correspondence, from an American in Mexico
who has had a somewhat similar experience to mine. Her
name is Pam Bolles.
Like me, Pam lives in Mexico, works
in Mexico, is
married to a Mexican, and
like myself has
two children (she calls them her "anchor babies".)
Like me, she has assimilated in many ways into Mexican
culture, unlike
some Americans who live here and
never learn Spanish. As Pam aptly described it,
"I
came here about 10 years ago and have assimilated. I
hang with Mexicans and now speak the lingo, unlike some
expats who have been here for 25 years and still can't
order a cold beer in a bar."
It’s true, there are Americans who
come down here, live for years and never learn Spanish.
The funny thing is, it’s often the less assimilated
Americans who are pro-open borders.
Pam lives in
Loreto, on the southern
Baja California Peninsula. She is the owner of the
The Baja Big Fish Company (see website
here) which charters boats for tourists who go sport
fishing (see seasonal fishing chart
here). If you want to go fishing there, the Baja Big
Fish Company can even book you a hotel reservation in
Loreto (see
here ). Click
here for a photograph of Pam, her husband and a
yellowtail fish she’d just caught.
As in my case, Pam’s experience of
living here has influenced her thinking on the subject
of immigration. She also arrived to the conclusion that
emigration is not good for Mexico either.
Pam’s first letter to me began:
"I
don't usually write to authors of articles that I find
on the web or elsewhere but after discovering
your writings about
mass Mexican immigration into the United States I
felt compelled to. I may be living a parallel life as I
also live, work and am raising a family in Mexico."
Then she explained how her
experience of living in Mexico had changed her
perspective:
"Prior to my living here I was an outspoken supporter of
Mexican immigration. Hey it’s just a bunch (millions) of
honest folks coming up to do that kind of work no-one
else wants to do, right?
“How
wrong I was."
Pam continues:
"Over
my years in Mexico (since 1999) I have seen what the
mass emigration out of Mexico has been doing to this
country and several years ago I did a complete 180
degrees. At this point I am actually supportive of the
Minutemen. Before I came here to live I thought the
Minutemen were racists. "
So you see how living here can
change your perspective. Then Pam explains in detail
what she means:
"I live in a tourist destination:
Loreto,
Baja California Sur.
“Here
very few people emigrate anywhere so we are not seeing
this problem but we are seeing megadevelopments
constructing all around us with people who are poorer
than the average resident here and willing to work for
lower pay. For the most part those construction workers
come from
Chiapas and
Oaxaca.
“Also
they speak Indian languages and not Spanish."
So you see what is happening where
she lives. It’s a more prosperous part of Mexico, and
there’s not much emigration. But notice that, just as in
the United States,
construction companies like to hire people who will
work for less than the
locals! In the case of Loreto, the construction
industry hires Mexicans from the poorest region of
Mexico, who will work for less. These migrants are
culturally,
racially and linguistically different from the
residents of Loreto.
Just to give you an idea of the
economic contrast, according to the United Nations’ HDI
(Human
Development Index), which measures life expectancy,
literacy, education, standard of living and GDP per
capita, Baja California Sur, the Mexican state in which
Loreto is located, has Mexico’s 4th-highest
HDI ranking, while
Chiapas has the lowest and Oaxaca has the second
lowest. As for GDP per capita, according to 2004
figures, Baja California Sur’s GDP per capita was
$11,248, Oaxaca’s $3,978 and Chiapas’s $3,693.
(For a map of Mexico which shows
you where the states are, click
here for Mexican HDI distribution by state, click
here , and just take a gander at the map, which
shows the
vast economic chasms within Mexico.)
Pam is also married to a Mexican,
which of course is a great help to assimilation. For one
thing, when you marry a Mexican you have Mexican
in-laws, which is an education within itself. But Pam’s
husband is not originally from Loreto, so she learned
something about her husband’s home region: "My
husband came here to construct
Cabo San Lucas in the mid 80s and stayed then met
me. He is from
Guerrero,
La Costa Chica one of the poorest areas of
Mexico."
The Mexican state of Guerrero has
the
third lowest HDI in Mexico, beat out only by Oaxaca
and Chiapas. Guerrero’s GDP per capita is $4,952
dollars.
Pam continues:
"When
we visit we see some family, cousins, sobrinos,(nieces
and nephews) but most in our age group have left to work
in various parts of the United States. The little
village where my suegra (mother-in-law) lives is
populated by the elderly and the very young. Virtually
ALL of the
able-bodied men and women have left to work in the
US. And as you know that’s only one of the social and
economic problems that this mass emigration has caused."
What Pam describes in only one
village is a big problem in many areas of Mexico—the
depopulation of small
towns and
rural areas. It destroys local traditions, breaks up
families and turns
vibrant towns into ghost towns. This is what open
borders has wrought.
Is this really helping Mexico?
Pam Bolles is also in the process
of
becoming a Mexican citizen. This is where our
experiences diverge—I’ve never attempted to become a
Mexican citizen
nor do I plan to. So we can learn from her
experience:
"I am
actually going through the process (or should I say
ordeal) of getting naturalized. This has been an ongoing
ordeal for me since September 2003! I ought to write to
you about that, how difficult it is."
According to Mexican immigration
law,
as the spouse of a Mexican and/or the parent of Mexican-born children (the latter being the basis
on which Pam is applying) she should be able to get
naturalized after having lived in Mexico two years.
But they are still giving her the runaround. Here’s her
impression:
"I'm
kinda steamed about it in comparison to what's expected
of the US by SRE [(Mexican foreign ministry]
here but I could suck it in and write about it. I think
that US citizens who are about to vote in a
major election, should take into consideration how
differently things go for Americans obtaining
citizenship in Mexico, or
being here legally working or otherwise for that
matter. I certainly don't have a problem with it, only
with
Mexico expecting the American government to
bend over backwards for illegals from Mexico. I
decided to naturalize myself so as to provide better
opportunities for work for myself so as to raise my two
Mexican-born children (anchor babies)."
Well, that’s Pam’s situation. In
her first letter to me, she closed out with these
encouraging words:
"Anyway, hats off to you and please keep up the
good work. If I can help you in any way don't
hesitate to ask."
Thanks Pam . You already have,
helped us by providing a valuable perspective.
And, in a more recent letter, Pam
told me that
"I've
been reading VDARE.COM a lot and when my season kicks in
I will
donate. Good stuff."
So if you’d like to go sport
fishing, book a flight to Loreto, have Pam book your
hotel and fishing boat, and catch some big fish with the
help of the
Baja Big Fish Company.
Some of your money might actually
end up supporting VDARE.COM!
American citizen Allan Wall (
email
him) resides in Mexico, with a
legal permit issued him by the Mexican government. Allan
recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq with the
Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are
archived
here; his FRONTPAGEMAG.COM
articles are archived
here his "Dispatches from
Iraq" are archived
here his website is
here.
