Physician, Heal Thyself: ‘Indignant’ President of Failed Nation Chastises U.S. on Immigration

In a recent televised interview with Univision, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto delivered a real knee-slapper. He is “indignant” about the deportation rate of his nationals living illegally in the U.S.

Pena Nieto added that the failure of the U.S. Congress to pass a bill that would legalize 12 million illegal immigrants, including about 6 million Mexicans, demonstrates a “lack of conscience.”

The indignant Pena Nieto may want to take a closer look at his own country first. According to Human Rights Watch, Mexico is guilty of “widespread” violations and human rights abuses that include torture, failure to give due legal process under international law, “overpopulated, unhygienic” prisons, domestic violence against women and girls, and abuse of migrants.

In fact, while Pena Nieto urges the U.S. to liberalize its immigration laws, Mexico vigorously enforces its own which are among the world’s toughest. So his claim that Congress has a “lack of conscience” reveals undisguised gall.

In the 27 years that I’ve been analyzing and writing about federal immigration policy, I can never remember a Mexican president who wasn’t indignant about one thing or another. The list of disgruntled presidents who preceded Pena Nieto includes Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado, Carlos Salinas de Gotari, Ernesto Zedillo, Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon.

Further, the alleged record deportation levels during President Obama’s two terms are repeatedly exposed as inflated. The totals are in reality fewer than under any president since Richard Nixon. Even Obama admits that the numbers have been manipulated to include border apprehensions and are therefore “deceptive.”

Mexico routinely meddles in U.S. immigration law. Here are a few lowlights from the many I’ve collected in my archive that demonstrate how little regard Mexico has for American sovereignty.

• The matricula consular card: In 2002, Mexico’s 47 consular offices located throughout the U.S. distributed more than a million of the “identification cards,” even though the card isn’t recognized as valid ID in Mexico. Still this card is used today.
• The Comic Book: In 2005, Mexico distributed an instruction manual in comic book form that outlined how prospective illegal immigrants could safely cross the border and live in the U.S. Titled “Guide for the Mexican Migrant,”1.5 million copies were published and distributed throughout Mexico.
• During his 2006 two-day visit to Washington, D.C., Calderon in his speech to Congress assailed SB 1070, the Arizona law which would allow police officers under certain circumstances to request proof of immigration status. A guest who publicly berates his foreign government host for laws duly passed by its citizens is out of line.

The U.S. is more tolerant and more generous in its treatment of illegal immigrants than any other nation, a fact Pena Nieto knows but won’t admit because it would undermine Mexico’s amnesty agenda.