In 2001, Rick Perry spoke at the Border Summit. In the speech he advocated closer ties with our neighbor to the south. While the left is busily trying to provide amnesty to Mexicans who have entered America illegally, they are also preparing to discredit Perry with his Tea Party supporters over his 10 year old views on our relationship with Mexico.
Quite frankly, I've changed my position on relations with Mexico quite dramatically since 2001, based upon real world evidence.
The basic argument of letting Mexican workers into the country is simple. Without an economic relief valve, the corrupt Mexican system would deteriorate into chaos. We don't need chaos on our border. But the reality is that we already have chaos on the border, thanks to the drug war. And the chaos is escalating.
When Vicente Fox become the first conservative Mexican President in several decades, I thought that we should give the guy a chance to reform things. But nothing changed. The corrupt system continued, but with different people in charge of the corruption.
My opinion today is that we should close the relief valve and let Mexico explode. A big explosion like we are seeing all over the Middle East is probably the only chance that Mexicans have of reforming their corrupt system.
Unlike the Middle East, there are enough people in Mexico with ties to and experience in the U.S. to help ensure that any explosion results in something better than they have today.
Close the border and let them stew. That's the real answer. It's a completely different answer than I would have given in 2001.
Circumstances change and it's okay to change a position based on new evidence. In fact, when circumstances change a reasonable and rational person will change their beliefs based on the new evidence. Those who don't change in the face of new evidence (like unreconstructed leftists) are not worth listening to.
