Pubdate: Tue, 04 Sep 2007 Source: Investor's Business Daily (US) Copyright: 2007 Investor's Business Daily, Inc Contact: http://www.investors.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/682 WANTED - A PARTNER The Hemisphere: Felipe Calderon's diatribe on immigration Sunday angered many Americans, and wasted a perfect chance to turn the U.S. into an ally. When will Mexico realize it must be a partner? It was downright painful to hear Mexico's new president resort to the kind of U.S.-blaming immigration rhetoric of past Mexican governments seeking to obscure their own failures, as if nothing were different in Mexico since he took office. "I again strongly protest the unilateral measures taken by the U.S. Congress and government, measures that are making the persecution and humiliating treatment of undocumented Mexican workers worse," Calderon told the country in his first state of the nation address, protesting the U.S. crackdown in illegal immigration. Not only is it infantile for a sitting Mexican president to blame the U.S. for enforcing its sovereign borders, it's also no way to resolve the chronic illegal immigration issue dividing the two nations. It's also a shame because Calderon has achieved enough in his presidency to soothe and possibly change U.S. sentiment. For one thing, he has launched a head-on confrontation with Mexico's biggest monster, its drug lords. He's put 24,000 boots on the ground to destroy them, refusing to ignore them. They control a big swath of the global drug trade, and their violence often spills into America. The U.S. has a big stake in Mexico winning. But Calderon said little about how his decision to go to war has already brought concrete results. According to U.S. drug czar John Walters, Mexico's effort has been pivotal in doubling prices of cocaine in U.S. cities as traffickers have been pummeled. Never have such results happened so fast. Calderon can put his name on it. Second, the Mexican president is pursuing free-market economic policies that work. In his speech, he noted the creation of 618,000 formal jobs -- far more than his predecessors ever did -- which are particularly critical in persuading Mexicans to stay. Both trump cards are so strong, they're capable of persuading a skeptical U.S. electorate to rethink an immigration deal without forcing it into scrapping the rule of law or bailing out a failure. So instead of berating the U.S. for cracking down on illegal immigration, Calderon could have said that Mexico is at war, and until it wins the drug war, it asks for temporary U.S. immigration relief to reduce pressure on the government and help it focus on victory. It's honest, it doesn't insult the American rule of law, and it makes the U.S. a partner. Central American countries have already done this successfully, and there's been very little public outcry. As an anvil, Calderon could also assure that Mexico's ongoing job creation will dampen incentives to more illegal immigration, raising U.S. confidence that the help Mexico seeks will be finite. Calderon has already asked the U.S. for $1 billion to fight the drug war. Adding immigration to the package might bring the U.S. in as a partner instead of an unwilling patron. That could give Mexico both an immigration deal and space for victory. Calderon needs to start being a good partner. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek