Speech #960329218

President. in the final two articles in his "Southwind" series. Richard Louv of the San Diego Union clearly demonstrates how futile it is for Americans to believe we can. by force alone. halt Mexican migration to this country. The worldwide phenomena of migration continues as migrants move from Bolivia and Chile to Argentinas industrialized cities and from Columbia to oilrich Venezuela. Because of uneven economic development. such migration will continue until their excess population can be harnessed by a developing nation. Such development will take decades even if new programs described in these articles are successful. For these projects to succeed. given Mexicos sensitivity and our need for a strong independent Mexico on our southern border. we need to foster technology transfer and a flexible business attitude which allows capital to flow across the border when it is advantageous to both lands. Meanwhile. the migrants will come north. Until the new opportunities arise in Mexico. we cannot expect the more vigorous members of the Mexican populace to stay home and starve. We must recognize reality and channelize this ebb and flow of migration into a legal. systematic. and controlled program such as envisioned by S. 1427. the United States Mexico Good Neighbor Act. Such a program would enable our economy to benefit as we need labor. A temporary worker visa program would give Mexico time to develop economically and stabilize herself during the turbulent 1980s and 1990s. A legal program would immediately end the exploitation now visited upon the undocumented migrants by the alien smuggling "coyotes". Since such a plan would allow the workers to join unions. their working conditions would improve and the unions could also protect the wage base of the American workforce simultaneously. Having a legal status in this country would also allow the migrants to draw some of the benefits that s their tax contributions support. In short. it (a temporary visa) is part of the solution to this problem. Until we recognized this and adopt a reasonable immigration policy toward Mexico. scenes such as that described in "It Continues" will take place. In that vignette a woman who lives in Imperial Beach. Calif. observed a shivering teenage boy wearing a ragged bathing suit and carrying a child.