Mr. President. on the other hand. this question can not be considered from a sentimental point of view. Unrestricted immigration from Mexico to this country is not in the permanent interest of the Mexican people. nor is it in the permanent or temporary interest of the people of this country. It is quite evident that the Mexicans who come to this country from old Mexico are apt to lose their own peculiar racial virtues by contact with our people without acquiring the virtues of the people into whose midst they come. They do not come here because they like our system of government. They come here largely because wages are better. but. to a large extent. also on account of the unfortunate conditions which have existed in their own country. In every year in which there is a cessation of revolutionary activity in Mexico the Mexican population in the United States is found going back. There was no Mexican immigration. to speak of. before 1908. and if the present program of the Mexican Government shall be carried out there will be very little immigration in the future. Any American industries which think they must depend on Mexican labor to carry on had better readjust their plans for the future. Mr. President. the citizens of the border States are the ones that suffer primarily from the unrestricted influx of Mexican immigration. We who come from those States have got to consider first of all the interest of our own people. I can speak primarily only for the people of my State. yet I know that similar conditions prevail. to some extent. in all the other border States.
Identified stereotypes
Mexicans are apt to lose their racial virtues without acquiring the virtues of the people into whose midst they come.