Cliff Stearns: “The immigration problem has been a topic of contentious debate for years now, with few results. The influx, both legal…”

“The immigration problem has been a topic of contentious debate for years now, with few results. The influx, both legal and illegal, of immigrants from Mexico to North America numbers at a minimum about 500,000 people a year. It is clear that the majority of these immigrants are coming to our country for the better wages to provide for their families. And this is the heart of the problem. The Mexican economy is continually stunted in its growth by fiscal mismanagement, corruption, and a perpetual dependence upon foreign aid and remittances. Mexico must make tough decisions and get its economy in shape. Until then, Madam Speaker, we will continue to face massive immigration from the south. While we are painfully aware of the problems illegal immigration is causing our society, consider what it is doing to Mexico in the long run. The massive immigration is draining many villages across Mexico of their important labor pool. Families are separated while the husbands and fathers choose to cross our borders to get better lives for themselves and for their families. Mexico is slow in reforming their economic policies, in part perhaps because of the influx of money from the remittances from the United States that enables them to continue their unhealthy policies. Let me explain. The money sent in the form of remittances amounted to about $23 billion in 2006, according to the Bank of Mexico, the country's central bank.”