Posts
I've discussed this in the past but it seems the problem is getting worse and Trump is losing ground. Illegals are swarming to the U.S. border by the truckload and that term is literal. This week on the toll road between Monterrey and Reynosa, Mexican immigration stopped a semi loaded with 336 people.
That's not a typo or a stuck key, 336 human beings herded into a trailer comprised of men, women, 31 children and two pregnant women just days away from giving birth. They are safe now and housed in the shelter for illegals with food, hot showers, beds, and blankets as well as clean clothes. The 31 children have been turned over to DIF (National System for Integral Family Development) whose job it is to care for as well as provide psychological evaluation and reunite them with their parents.
This cargo had a value of over $ 2,500,000 U.S. Each person paid over $7500 to be taken from the Guatemala/ Mexico border to Houston, Tx. This isn't a once in a lifetime trip, this trip is constantly being made through the Americas delivering people, not to the border, but to cities inside the United States. Keep in mind, many people pay just to make it to Mexico which for many can be just as safe and lucrative in terms of improving one's condition.
How long did it take some or all of these people to raise $7500? I ask that question because that is a lot of money. When was the last time you spent that much on a trip? We didn't even spend that much on our four-month-long excursion through the U.S. and Canada when fuel prices were at one of their all-time highs.
In Mexico, a person with a high school diploma who makes 10,000 pesos a month is doing extremely well. With that 10,000 pesos a month you have socialized medicine for yourself, your spouse and your children until age 18. You have access to a government home loan with a fixed rate.
85 sq meters (765 sq ft) 2 bedrooms, one bath. Not a big house but a good starter home. Imagine if the spouse works also and makes around the same. Not a bad life.
So this blog post has been delayed for a week due to the fact that a certain cat strolled across my keyboard and erased this part of the post. I couldn't retrieve it. Too bad but my point with this topic was that I am not sure why people, especially Mexicans, risk their lives and families, not to mention their families money, to do something that they could easily do at home.
Not sure why the United States doesn't just tell people not to come as the "dream" really doesn't exist and it's something they can do at home. How many have died? How many have never returned home to their families because of a change of plans, they had started a new family and forgotten the other, or ended up in prison?
With the exception of those from Central America, a place that has no real future that I can see, who seek refugee status. Central America is one of Mother Nature's mistakes in terms of human existence. Battered yearly from both sides by cyclones, hurricanes, and heavy flooding. No wonder those countries, although beautiful and I know a few, are so corrupt and crime-ridden.
Just my take on this as we see them pass through Monterrey on their way north. Stay home, get a good education, find a way. There are solutions and as frequent visitors to Mexico, we can all help. Used clothes and tips aren't the answer. Help provide a good education and support for a family. So when you come this winter, find someone to help, not with money with a better future.
Wow Chris...so well put. Doug and I have had this same conversation. We often wonder why people try and flock to the US when they can have so much in their own country. Like you say, education is and has always been the key. Why chose to live in a foreign country in poverty when all one has to do is get an education.
ReplyDeleteI wish for so much for your beautiful country...I hope they will all be well.
Well said! Change must come from within…
ReplyDeleteVery eloquently out by someone who knows what he is speaking about.
ReplyDeleteSorry, put not out. Phones are far too helpful.
ReplyDeleteBravo and Amen!
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you wrote. We have been doing this as best we can. I would like to help even more. Do you have some suggestions? New ideas are appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThey are looking for easy money without an education. Field and housework probably pays better in US than in Mexico and south. I grew up very poor with no running water, no bathroom, central heating or air condition on Navajo Reservation in AZ. My dad harangued us at every meal about education, our way of life i.e. herding sheep and planting a field was going to go away. He said education was the key to our survival. He died when I was about 13 years old and our mom died when I was 16 two months before I graduated high school. My youngest sister was about 12 years old. Our elderly grandma haphazardly was there for us in summer when we returned from boarding school. I won a 4 year scholarship, then I paid for the rest of my education to obtain a masters in finance. Yes, education saved our lives just as our dad had predicted. I thank him for that over & over. We are all doing well some with grandchildren & I strive to instill the same ideals as my father but do grandkids listen? No. Life is too easy for them with everything provided...they know nothing of struggles for everyday life i.e. food, clean clothes, shoes, clean water, clean home with bathrooms and electric or gas stoves...even toilet paper was a luxury. I'm sure their children will struggle and the cycle continues....
ReplyDeleteP.S. some states like Arizona has closed its door to illegal immigrants from getting jobs here as well as public help i.e. housing, medical, education. The employers are fined for hiring illegals and identity theft is investigated as priority. As an former IRS employee, we issued TIN numbers to folks who worked in US but had no social security number to file a tax return. If they had no official birth certificate and proper papers to work in US they were denied a TIN. Consequently, we don't see crowds of men at home depot, warehouses to get day labor. Immigration stop anyone they determine might be here illegally. For Arizona, the illegals have fled our state to go elsewhere to look for work.
DeleteWhere is the 2 bedroom 1 bath home located?
Delete