Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness
Mexican nationals, likely cartel members, recently crossed the border and shot and wounded an American hiker. Did they assume that Joe Biden was still president, and so it was still a veritable open season on Americans without consequences?
Mexico also recently balked at allowing a U.S. transport plane to land, returning its own nationals apprehended as illegal aliens.
Was its attitude that Alejandro Mayorkas was still Homeland Security Secretary and thus working with Mexico to ensure that millions of illegal aliens could stay in the U.S. indefinitely?
After four years of Biden’s appeasement, Mexico seems to assume that it has a sovereign right to encourage the flight of millions of its own impoverished citizens illegally into the U.S. and further assumes that it can fast-track millions of Latin Americans through its territory and across our border.
Mexico either cannot or will not address the billions of dollars of raw fentanyl products shipped in—mostly from China—and then processed for export to the U.S. by its cartels across a nonexistent border.
Mexico seems to have little concern that some 75,000 Americans on average die from mostly Mexican-imported fentanyl each year—more deaths in just the last decade than all the Americans killed in action during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined. Who then is our friend, and who is our enemy?
This appalling death toll is in part due to the deliberate efforts of the cartels to mask fentanyl as less deadly narcotics or camouflage the poison by lacing it into counterfeit prescription drugs.
Mexico encourages its expatriate illegal aliens to send back some $63 billion per year in remittances. That huge sum constitutes one of Mexico’s largest sources of foreign exchange, surpassing even its tourist and oil revenues.
These billions are often subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. America’s local, state, and federal governments provide billions of dollars in food, housing, and health care entitlements that allow Mexico’s citizens, illegally residing inside the U.S., to free up the cash to be sent home.
According to U.S. census data, almost every year, the trade deficit with Mexico has increased from about $50 billion twenty years ago to $160 billion today.
That astronomical figure neither includes the $63 billion American outflow in remittances nor the multi-billion income from the cartels’ illicit drug sales in the U.S.
Although one would never know it from the rhetoric of Mexican politicians, the entire Mexican economy, both legal and illicit, hinges on America accepting a worsening asymmetrical relationship.
Yet the U.S. has a lot of leverage with Mexico to ensure that it no longer assumes a permanent huge trade surplus with the U.S., turns a blind eye to massive fentanyl shipments that kill thousands of Americans, encourages its own citizens to enter their neighbor’s country illegally, and counts on massive cash remittances from the U.S.
Loud rhetoric, threats, and ultimatums do not work.
Usually, they earn Mexico’s furious retorts about Yanqui imperialism and ancient bitterness about a lost Aztlán.
Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador used to brag about the millions of illegal aliens that were residing in the U.S. He further advised expatriate Mexican-Americans not to vote for Republicans, whom he felt one day might close the border.
Obrador rarely reflected on why millions of his own citizens were fleeing his own country—only that it was a “beautiful” thing that they did.
Did Obrador hate Trump more for challenging him by trying to stop the illegal influx or Biden for embarrassing him by welcoming millions of them into the U.S.?
So, what should be the U.S. response to Mexico’s passive-aggressive policies?
Smile, praise Mexico as our greatest trading partner, and then quietly inform them that illegal aliens will be bussed to the border.
Once there, they could be given a generous care package, escorted through a border door, and left on the Mexican side from which they entered and thus could then be escorted in caravans home in the same manner that they arrived.
To maintain cordial relations and politely gain Mexico’s attention, we need a radical change in tone and action beyond just ending catch-and-release, finishing the wall, and making refugee status requests possible only in the home country of the applicant.
Rather than worry about who is sending remittances, why not politely place a 20 percent tax (about $12 billion) on all cash sent from the U.S. to Mexico?
We could also hail our mutual friendship and then reluctantly slap tariffs on imported assembled goods until the two-way trade is roughly balanced.
Who knows, once the U.S. is respected again and not considered an easy mark, Mexico could once again become a fine and reciprocal friend to the United States.
…and the drugs that subsequently end up in the US.
Kevin,
Have you ever heard of Operation Fast & Furious? If you voted for Obama and his Wing Man (Eric Holder) then you’re complicit in the illegal smuggling of U.S. weapons into Mexico. Weapons, I might add, that have been documented to have been used to murder Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.
And if you’re truly committed to stopping dangerous drugs such as fentanyl from freely flowing into our country and killing 75k Americans every year then you should be supporting president Trump’s efforts to secure our Southern border and, if need be, destroy the drug cartels once and for all.
“Prof. Hanson” , are you a professor? At what university? In what field?
You’re a typically lazy troll – there’s a bio right at the top of the website.
Are you lazy?? Easy information to Google to find out.
Try the internet. The information is available there.
For those to befuddled to use Google….. Stanford University, Classics, Military History
Stanford/Hoover Institute. PhD in the classics from Stanford and professor emeritus at Fresno State. Visiting professor at Hillsdale College.
Almost all the guns used by the drug cartels in Mexico are manufactured in the US and transported over the border into Mexico…guns out, drugs in. Reasonable gun laws in the US would, I think, go far in stopping the cartel violence in Mexico.
You solidly prove your utter ignorance o US and stae gun laws/restrictions by this claim.
During the Obammy years the federal government built a rotten programme that sent US purchased (almost all lawfully so) to the Mexican drug cartels. Thus was maybe 15 years ago or so. It got exposed when a US Border Patrol agent was murdered with one of the guns involved in this project, whilst on the US side of the border.
Seems the feds were actually recruiting straw buyers, lawfully able to purchase guns in the US, then feed them into the cross-border pipeline. This involved not a few US law enforcement and government agents.
That programme got shut down, mostly, The feds and most states went on a tear to impose even more restrictions upon our right to keep and bear arms this side of the border, thus the laws relating to such conduct are now even more strict than back when.
The issue is not nor has it been our “gun laws”. It has always and ever been criminal activity to which government at best turns a blind eye, and at worst, instigates and enables this traffic.
Look up David Codrea, and Mike Vanderbaugh. Both covered this corrupt trade in arms very extensively over a number of years. Mike passed away a few years back, David still writes daily.
WIde Receiver was the early version of this programme, and was later changed to fast and furious.
Educate yourself before you speak up on such things else you make yourself out to be a fool.
A gun without bullets, is just a hammer, and not a very good one. Aguila is a Mexican company that manufactures over a Billion (yes, billion with a “B”) rounds of ammunition a year, about half of which come to the U.S. So, literally enough to kill everyone in the U.S., and Canada, and still have 100,000,000 left over….. Every. Single. Year.
I’m actually not complaining about Mexico producing ammo, just pointing out the profound hypocrisy of Mexican leaders in particular complaining about U.S. guns.
Trump just imposed a 26% tariff on both Mexican & Canadian imports!
The answer is not friend, but a one word pejorative is difficult to come up with! Maybe the real problem is finding a way to get Mexico to be accountable and find solutions to their own self created issues rather than dump them on their neighbor(s).
President Trump has just imposed a 25% tariff on both Mexico and Canada
A man who has worked 12 months hasn’t worked a full year – there must be time for rest, recuperation and new ideas.
Dr. Hanson,
25%? Perhaps that would serve as a down payment. What of the BILLIONS expropriated during the past 4 years, and 40 years beyond for that matter%? In other words, foreign nationals have and continue to rape its host not too differently than invaders of others from the past. Ted, Milwaukee
I remember visiting New Canaan, CT years ago. Lot’s of big homes and mansions. One in particular stood out because it had a massive brick wall around the huge property. Turns out it was owned by the former mayor of Mexico City.
Mexico’s considered the most corrupt country in Latin America. People wanting to do business there must add 30 percent to their budget for payoffs up & down the line. In other Latin American countries, the graft is only 10 percent or so.
As to trade, we need “fair & balanced” trade with other countries as opposed to unbridled capitalism. Capitalism is the best system to alleviate poverty and reward success, but it can be at the expense of human rights. We also need to protect certain strategic industries.
50% tax on money send-backs to Mexico.
No welfare for illegals. American taxpayers should not be on the hook for paying illegals to be here.
Death penalty for drug dealers.
End birth right citizenship for illegals. Make it retroactive.
Take away incentives and the behavior changes immediately. The oldest rule in behavior modification plans. Why does it appear that we don’t understand this?
Problem solved. This is an easy one.
Unfortunately easier said than done!
Simply done, in regards to taxing remittances. 50%, 40%, whatever rate – just do it for all and any transfers, with an immediate addition to the IRS reported income of the recipient, and a note on the donor’s IRS return. If neither is registered, US keeps the money, if either is, usual IRS rules apply.
You are right on! Let’s do it! I have been writing letters for 3 years to Ted Cruz, John Cornyn, Gov Gregg Abbott and Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick to tax this money. No response. Everytime they send a money request, I put a letter in the envelope. No response!
A great plan!!!
Jim,
I’ve read that the Mexican government only controls about 20% of Mexico.
Are the drug cartels Mexico’s actual government?
Yes. Mexico is a narco state and the cartels will not be put out of business no matter what Trump does. Drugs are are multinational business.
I’m surprised Trump hasn’t already done it.
He did slap a tariff on imported goods from Mexico today. Remittances will be next.
1916 again?
1836 was a good year.
Why are we handing out welfare, snap and other forms of subsidies to immigrants, both legal and illegal, here in the US while they send cash back to their native countries? It should not be an impossible task to identify those sending remittances back ‘home’, then halt all taxpayer subsidized welfare to those individuals/families!
No doubt the rhetoric from the left will be how Trump is a careless individual starving families here in the USA. Trump ran on America First, not free money to citizens of other nations in the form of remittances.
If halting the ‘purple’ money going to other countries results in impoverished families, then those governments have a duty to their citizens to correct their economic issues.
Correction:
an “immigrant” is someone who has taken the care, time, expense, to go through the legal channels and conform to all laws relating to becoming a lawful resident of your new country.
Anything else is an illegal foreign invasion.
Stop using the term “immigrant” to indicate just anyone here from a foreign country.
Some refer to the Mexican migrants as “Los burritos de Troya.” Like the Greek’s ‘peace gift’ horse to Troy (who presumed to have won their war), the Mexicans have long had a plan on how to reconquer territories lost to the young US in the 1850s.
Mexico will continue to do what it wants because there has been no requirement in change of behavior. Which is why Mexican nationals (likely, a cartel member) shot and wounded an American citizen while hiking because they do not care who comes in their way.
If we know that Mexico is dependent on remittances, which surpassed almost all other sources of foreign income for Mexico including tourism, oil exports and most manufacturing exports, why not put a 20 percent tax on cash. Mexico is the second-highest receiver of remittances in the world, trailing India.
Criminal penalties need to be significant. There are Mexican nationals that have come into the United States on multiple occasions. Committing the the same crimes over and over again, only to laugh in the faces of our CBP officers. Somehow Mexican nationals find their way back into the United States. This must not continue to happen. Penalties need to equal the crimes committed. Sending an offender back to Mexico, can often ensure there release.
Fentanyl – is the source of income for the cartels, supplied by China (killing America’s youth) securing our southern border is a first step, but we also have our northern border as well and other ports of entry to be concerned about. While China is aware of its actions, the United States must be firm in its negotiations to end this abuse.
Those territories were not “lost”. they were freely sold in a mutually agreed upon transaction. They got the money, we got the dirt. All that was above board, fair abd square.
Kwitchyerweining, its a done deal. Talk about seller’s regret….
yet almost 50% voted for Trump in the last election. It isn’t working.
My Dad used to say when referring to a group’s poor behavior, ‘it’s the family business’. Mexicos politicos family business has been bought and paid for, for 100 years by strong men through coup d’etat and cartel money and aggression. By default Mexico ‘family business’ is corruption. Their current regime is no different.
To affect change one must use the only language the regime understands. Swift action, axe the cash, backed up with military force. Nothing less will do.
Dear Prof. Hanson,
At last, as our country’s most prolific truth purveyor, you have nailed the “best yet” message of how America, read the Trump administration, should handle “the Mexican situation”.
I just hope that, from Pres. Trump on down, the appropriate people take the appropriate actions that will implement the policies you have suggested…. and, not-by-the-way, do so promptly.
Sincerely,
Tom Hodgson
Mexico is not our friend. What kind of a friend thinks it is OK to poison and kill friends? Not only illegals are bringing narcotics, and especially deadly Fentanyl, but even those who come through legal ports of entry strap drugs yo their bodies or even worse—carry them in body cavities. What kind of friends live off of friends’ money and even brag about it? What kind of people “rent” their children to cartels? I am Armenian, I can’t imagine ANY Armenian parent, no matter how hard life gets, to do that…. What kind of people allow cartels to rule their own country? Mexico is a beautiful country and they gave it away to cartels. Cut Americans’ travel to Mexico and see what happens… That is another thing that could be done, I think… Of course, there is always a flip side to any problem… Our own American corruption… On November 5 we got our last chance to clean it up, at least, to some degree. I hope we won’t screw it up…
We could declare Mexico a lawless state where the government does not have control of its territory and therefore does not have sovereignty (essentially a vote of “no-confidence” in Mexico’s government). This fact is should be viewed as a threat to US National Security and would complement the declaration that cartels are terrorist organizations. This would change the paradigm with which we view both entities opening many paths to address forward to address both issues.