The United States is a nation of immigrants and for the most part our country has a celebrated history of welcoming peoples from all over the world. Unfortunately the modern wave of immigration from south of the border is distinctly different than any other immigration in our nation’s history and a Washington Post ^[1] story on recent statements from Mexico’s foreign minister reminds us of that today. Under the header ‘Mexico Rebukes US Candidates on Migrant Issues’ the Washington Post quotes Mexico historian Lorenzo Meyer: “In the past, when Mexico’s foreign policy was based on a principle of nonintervention, it was a taboo for Mexican leaders to talk about internal affairs of other countries, especially the United States.” Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa Cantellano said, “Being effective in the defense and support of the migrants implies treating them the same way whether they are in Mexico or outside the country.”

Never before has the United States faced migration from a country on its border intent on influencing its internal politics. Showing they were concerned with this very danger, the founding fathers prohibited foreign born citizens from becoming president in Article II of the Constitution. Completely dismissive of these US sovereignty concerns, Mexico recently approved a law allowing migrants in the US to vote in Mexican elections ^[2]. As the Center for Immigration Studies ^[3] has documented, this is part of a comprehensive campaign by Mexico to extend its political influence into the US.

There is a solution to our nation’s illegal immigration problem and it does not involve the false choice ^[4] between path-to-citizenship/amnesty proposals and deportation: build a fence ^[5] and establish a Social Security no-match system ^[6] for employers. Proponents of a ‘comprehensive’ plan for immigration often stress the importance of cracking down on employers who hire illegal workers, but it is impossible to crack down on employers without an adequate social security match system in place. And let’s remember, it was liberal activists groups including the AFL-CIO, the ACLU, and the National Immigration Law Center that stopped the Dept. of Homeland Security ^[7] from implementing a no match system.