Los Angeles, Mexico

it seems to me that the united states federal government - which i always thought is in charge of border control - is not very concerned about illegals coming in from mexico. i would be interested to hear why you think this might be so - i have some ideas, but like to hear from citizens of the united states why you think your government is somewhat complacent in this matter.

last time i was in texas was in 1979, and i remember that we saw plenty of what the locals called 'wetbacks' walking back to mexico. the locals also told us that those same 'wetbacks' would probably be back in texas within a few days and that the local farmers were waiting for them to work on their farms. has anything really changed ?
just wondering. hbg

One thing I know is that many American companies/industries rely on illegals to do their labor for them.
Seems to me, if there was no hope in hell of ever acquiring employment, legitimate or not, no fewer people would make the trip.

How Corporate America Thrives on Illegals
Popular belief has it that illegals are crossing the border in search of work. In fact, many have their jobs lined up before they leave Mexico. That's because corporate managers go so far as to place orders with smugglers for a specific number of able bodies to be delivered. For corporate America, employing illegal aliens at wages so low few citizens could afford to take the jobs is great for profits and stockholders. And companies are rarely, if ever, punished for it

For nearly 20 years, it has been a crime to hire illegal aliens. Amid an earlier surge in illegal immigration, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which provided that employers could be fined up to $10,000 for every illegal alien they hired

But companies had little to fear. Neither Reagan nor subsequent Presidents or Congresses were eager to enforce the law.

Now many corporate managers feel emboldened to place orders for workers while the prospective employees are still in Mexico, then assist them in obtaining phony documentation and transport them hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles from the interior of Mexico to a production line in an American factory.
This notion was supported by evidence introduced during an alien-smuggling trial in 2003 involving Tyson Foods Inc., which describes itself as "the world's largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork."

One of the arguments that is regularly advanced to justify hiring illegal workers is that they are merely doing jobs American workers won't take. President Bush echoed the theme earlier this year when he proposed the immigration-law changes that would allow millions of illegals to live and work in the U.S.: "I put forth what I think is a very reasonable proposal, and a humane proposal, one that is not amnesty, but, in fact, recognizes that there are good, honorable, hardworking people here doing jobs Americans won't do."