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Professor Victor Davis Hanson of California State University spoke Wednesday, August 20^th at the Nixon Center about his recent book: Mexifornia: A State of Becoming.  The book addresses the problem of Mexican immigration in California.  Carlos Rico, the Political Counselor of the Mexican Embassy, also commented on the book.  Rico and Hanson agreed that the current approach to Mexican migration needs to be changed, although they disagreed on the reasons for changing U.S. policies and on how to change them.  Dr. Robert Leiken, Director of the Immigration and National Security Program at the Nixon Center, moderated their discussion.

Mexifornia: Separation Is Not the Answer

Hanson explained that employers largely view immigrants as a commodity and, in recent years, have not been obligated to raise their wages.  Mexican immigrants are willing to work for less than the native Californian and, more often than not, they work harder.  Essentially, Hanson argued, employers ‘cheated’ by importing labor and the market ceased to increase wages. 

This practice created a perpetual under-class.  Mexicans accepted jobs as permanent which most Americans viewed as entry-level positions or as rites-of-passage.  Around age forty, many immigrants found themselves with physical limitations as a result of years of hard labor.  Middle-aged and with little knowledge of English, many were unable to find employment and had to fall back on entitlements paid for by Californians.  This process left a poorly-educated second generation who never knew Mexico and had a reputation for not working as hard as their parents. 

Hanson argued that the result is virtual apartheid.  Immigrants are no longer encouraged to assimilate, to learn English, or to accept the core values of American society. They attend separate graduation ceremonies and additional lines are drawn between races.  Hanson posited that this separation is a disaster for cultural and moral equality.  Californians live eighteenth-century aristocratic lifestyles, complete with servants (who are often illegal) as nannies and cleaning ladies.

He further pointed out that the waves of Mexican immigration are not like earlier waves of Italian immigration.  There is a 2000-mile border with Mexico, and an American pop culture that finds its way across the border.  Perpetual amnesty will not solve this crisis.  Indeed, this situation creates a strange coalition of the libertarian and corporate right with the cultural left, leaving the middle as prey to demagogues. 

Restrictionist Policies Ignore Reality

Carlos Rico argued that, until recently, many Mexican workers who went to California returned to Mexico.  It was only during the last twenty years that the problem of Mexican migrants remaining in the United States became so enormous.  The difference, Rico asserted, is that the U.S. dealt with immigration by tightening immigration restrictions, making a return back to Mexico quite difficult.  Despite the tightened policies, immigrants continued to follow the market north. 

During the last twenty years the criminality associated with immigration significantly increased.  Rico stressed that this increase was a result of the new U.S. restrictions.  Crossing the border is more difficult today than in the past and would-be immigrants pay professionals to help to them enter the United States.  Each year, thousands of people die attempting to cross the border.     

Rico also mentioned that the number of citizenship applications from Mexicans wishing to obtain U.S. citizenship has increased.  While this type of increase is a positive development, the aforementioned consequences of U.S. policies mark a clear failure of restrictionist “solutions.” 

Disingenuous Discussion

Hanson responded that the problem is a result of the inability of the Mexican economy to grow vis-à-vis its population.  In addition to economic integration, there are also social questions and questions of honor involved with integrating countries and populations. 

Hanson mentioned that his major problem with the discussion of Mexican immigration is that much of it is disingenuous.  Ideally, the Mexican government envisions a borderless, open society with a non-restrictionist policy.  If Americans believe in such a culture, then the government should open the border, issue drivers licenses, and allow Mexican citizens, legally in the US, to return to Mexico to vote for the Mexican president.  The problem is that every time someone comes up with a logical solution to immigration and assimilation, Americans vote against it, choosing instead to vote to the right on this issue.  In Hanson’s view, Mexicans who move to the US have accepted American culture and should be assimilated into society.         

Realities: Immigration and Dramatic Domestic Transformation 

Robert Leiken noted that the Mexican Constitution gives the Mexican government the right to travel, but also the right to channel that travel.  He asked Mr. Rico if coordinating one-time legislation to legalize migrants could be exchanged for channeled entry into the US.  Rico answered that this idea could be the beginning of cooperation between the two countries. 

This program brief was prepared by Nixon Center interns Whitney Shaffer and Chris Pope.