Why is america expected to solve mexico's/anybody else's problems?

Question

Why in the WORLD is Congress so knock-kneed on this one?
The answer on this one's simple. Mexico needs reforms, and so do a lot of other countries. Why all the foot-dragging? What's your opinion on the immigration issue?

Answer 1

Hey gokart. The reason why America is expected to solve Mexico's and everybody else's problems is simply because, for better or worse, we've been sending economic aid to nations throughout the globe since the end of WWII and the world has become dependent on us to continue to do so because they have neither the ability or desire to solve the problems of their own citizens. Also, since the US has always been so generous by allowing tens/hundreds of thousands of people to immigrate here legally each year, leaders of other nations have relied (and continue to rely on)on the US as a convenient way to rid themselves of many of their most economically and politically desperate citizens who, often, would become the greatest threat to the control and power enjoyed by these leaders. While the US was left largely unscathed at the end of the war, and emerged as the great economic and political superpower and as a beacon of freedom and prosperity, the economies of both our former enemies and allies alike were left crippled. Rather than allow the economies of other nations to suffer as they had after the first world war, America felt it was politically, morally and economically critical to help both former friend and foe to rebuild (just look at Japan and Germany) in order to break the cycle of global economic depression which helped push the Germans to support Hitler and into war. In addition, when the Soviet Union rose as a political/economic/military rival following the war, the US(and their democratic allies) also thought it critical to provide economic support to various third world nations that preached democracy (although many of these nations were, in fact, ruled as dictatorships) in order to fight the spread of communism/socialism which was pereived as a grave threat to democratically elected governments. Since the Soviet Union disintegrated and left the US as the only (current) superpower remaining, many of our former allies who depended on us for military and economic support now regard us as imperialistic bullies now that the Soviet political threat has vanished; with the current political vacuum of no American rival (although China is clearly getting there quickly), it is now almost universally en vogue to claim American imperialism and to be anti-American even among many of our closest former allies who were dependent on us to help them re-build their countries (France? Germany?). Even now, though we certainly aren't required to and many of our political motivations for doing so are gone,and despite hostility abroad, the US still tries to be a beacon of morality by offering economic aid to nations across the globe and we are rewarded with increasing anti-American sentiment. Latin American nations and Mexico, in particular, present a unique set of relationships. As said previously, the US supported many third world Latin American nations(Panama, Nicaragua) militarily, economically and politically without any accountability by the leaders we aided following WWII due to the great fear Americans had that communism would spread to their hemisphere and their backdoor (look at Cuba); many of the nations/leaders we supported in third world countries across the world were nothing more than military strong men/dictators who took our aid and did nothing to benefit their people and these nations are still suffering and blame the US as a result. Mexico, on the other hand, never was involved in WWII and, like the US, emerged unscathed - however decades of corruption and mismanagement by their political leaders and wealthy elite has also put economic pressure on the average Mexican citizen. Rather than demand and fight for political and economic reform in their homelands, many Latinos simply found it easier to go to the US-whether its through legal immigration channels or not-for better economic, political and social conditions. The people trying to come to the US have no will or ability to demand changes at home; the leaders of the nations from where they come certainly have no motivation to change the political/economic landscape which serves them so well so they tacitly encourage the oppressed to leave-using the US as a convenient source of political/social/economic relief. Having explained the precedents set by our overly-genorous nation whereby much of the world seems to have become dependent on us to solve their troubles, I certainly believe( along with the vast majority of Americans)our nation has every right to secure our borders in order to regulate our economy, protect our citizenry and maintain our cultural identity. Now that Americans have finally become aware of the economic burdens being caused by the ever-increasing number of illegal immigrants flowing into the US and are simply mobilizing to enforce current immigration laws which were designed to protect our nation, the leaders of those nations (along with their politically and economically powerful allies here in the US that benefit from the illegals) where the immigrants come from now try to deflect how badly they have mismanaged their own countries by playing the race card. I find it odd that a nation with such cultural,religious and ethnic diversity that it is universally refered to as the "melting pot" could ever be accussed of being racist simply for wanting to secure its borders like any other country does; I also think one of the main reasons we even allow the race card to be thought of as an issue in this illegal immigration debate is because the US is so much more racially sensitive/diverse than just about any other country on earth. In addition to these foreign leaders that benefit from the US accepting their refugees, there is a economically powerful and politically strong American minority who benfit from these illegal immigrants and continue to fight for their "rights" in the USA. The most obvious group of Americans supporting the illegal immigrants are the leaders of numerous businesses, ranging from Tyson chicken to the small landscaping company my friend works for, that have come to rely on illegals as a cheap source of labor; in addition, there are other businesses that rely heavily on illegals as customers. Also, there are religious, social and political organizations that have benefited from the arrival of a large number of illegal immigrants. Since the vast majority of illegal immigrants are Catholic, the Catholic church, for example, has benefited from increased attendance and increased revenue in their churches across the Southwest; the church is also, not surprisingly, a supporter of the illegals using the arguement that the US has a moral duty to help these illegal immigrants escape poverty and religious persecution at home. Other independent and govermental agencies that serve the Hispanic community also have a vested interest in supporting immigrants (legal or not) because funding is often based on numbers (not numbers of citizens and/or legal immigrants); for many; illegal immigrants provide job support. I'm not sure(I'm actually surprised I haven't heard from them so maybe I am wrong), but I also have to imagine agencies like the ACLU have found a financial goldmine trying to defend the "rights" of illegal citizens. The most important ally the illegal immigrants have here in the US though is, sadly enough, the politicians who seem to have turned their backs on the American people who they were elected to represent. Although the vast majority of Americans are firmly opposed to rewarding those immigrants who have come here illegally, many politicians seem to be selling out on this issue in order to gain favor with a potentially large and important voting bloc for the future- because they have repeatedly heard like the rest of us that Hispanics will make up the largest ethnic group in the US within the next 20 years. So to briefly recap the answer(s) to your question(s): the US has set a precedent of bailing out out/aiding just about every nation for the last 60 years without demanding/creating reforms to help the average people in the nations we have aided; the US has traditionally been used as a dumping ground ,by corrupt leaders of countries across the globe, to rid themselves of their most desperate citizens who potentially represent the greatest threat to their power; other nations have no desire and/or no ability to fix the domestic issues which plague their citizens and their leaders try to play the race card in the most culturally diverse nation on earth rather than address the issues in their home lands; there is a economically powerful and politically strong American minority who benefit from the presence of illegal immigrants; both parties in the Senate (and even the President)seem to be selling out the American people of today in order to gain favor with what is expected to be America's largest political bloc in the future.

Answer 2

Sure Mexico, and a lot of other countries, needs reform ... but in Mexico's case, they don't HAVE to reform anything ... good buddy Bush will make sure they can traipse on their merry way ... we'll look after the Mexican citizens, and to hell with the American citizens ... and Tessie ... do you REALLY think all the illegal immigrants are poor farm hands who want to pick strawberries for next to nothing? Heard about drugs? Heard about weapons smuggling? Heard about gangs? Why do people always assume that the people coming over our borders are nice, sweet people? Statistics show that there are plenty who aren't ....

Answer 3

I dont think America is expected to solve the problems in other countries. In some countries America's interests or American corporationscreated those problems in the first place. The United States its the 1 super power left, and its slowly losing its status around the world. America desperately wants to be viewed as a savior and involves itself other countries internal disputes, wanting to solve it. America is like that rich obnoxious friend you have, and that never leaves your house because he bought you some groceries a while back.

Answer 4

gokart: I'm just taking a few minutes in here to say a great big THANK YOU to all the people like you who are on here educating all of us and spreading the truth about the devastation that illegal immigration is causing to the USA! I know you get a lot of backlash from the ignorants who support illegal immigration and even the so-called "poor" illegal immigrants (who, BTW, obviously aren't all so POOR if they are actually on the internet with a computer, in the first place) and yet you keep on here relentlessly stating the facts and telling it like it is. So, THANK YOU, and keep up the good work and don't let any of the illegals and illegal supporters cause you to back down.

Answer 5

America is not the greatest country to grace the earth with it's presence. If you believe this why are most of our cities plagued with neighborhoods that make third world countries appear prosperous? If you believe this why are we (a Constitutional federal republic) ignoring our own rule of law? If you believe this why are we involved in another guerrilla insurgency?
I am so sick of hearing about American exceptionalism. I'll give you American exceptionalism; Native American genocide to steal land, African slavery to accelerate the consolidation of great wealth, Mexican American War to steal land (our first foray into imperialism.) Spanish American War to steal land (our first overseas imperialist adventure.)
It has always been in the US interests to keep Mexico weak and impoverished. NAFTA put the final nail in that coffin. I will say this without any misgivings. I respect the Mexicans who come here to better themselves. They are only doing what any one of us would do if we had the fortitude (which I doubt very many Americans have.)

Answer 6

America is expected to help people because we CAN, it's pretty much that simple. The mexican government is completely corrupt, and the large ammount of Mexicans in poverty can't do much about it, except leave. I went to Mexico once, my parents were helping about a missionary who had a church there. The living condidtions in parts of Mexico are horrible.
Why SHOULDN'T we do something? They need help.

Answer 7

America is NOT expected to solve the World's problems. It has a strong tendency to wade in without planning, consideration and advice and without the slightest nod to The Geneva Convention.

Answer 8

America is not expected too-except by those who feel the right to demand it.
Mexico needs to be more self reliant-and many don't want to see that option because it is easier the way it is going here.

Answer 9

Why not, we have fixed Iraq's problems 40 or 50 more dead today. Two of our guys missing, Yep we need to help Mexico.

Answer 10

U don't need to solve our problems. first of all u guys took over a large part of our territory along eith the people already there. so just because our family wasnt born on ur side of the imaginary line doesnt miake us illegal ctiminals.

Answer 11

It is like going to Charles Manson for psychology. The thing that makes it worse is that some people actually believe that the US can solve problems.