Here’s an obvious solution to the United States’ illegal immigration problem: Create more jobs in Mexico.

Unfortunately, neither of the two sides most outspoken about illegal immigration support this solution.

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On one extreme of the illegal immigration debate are the people I call the “Wall Builders.” They want illegal immigrants deported; they oppose all forms of amnesty; and they want to build an impenetrable wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. To them, illegal immigrants steal jobs from Americans and make use of social programs they never paid for.

One of the most vocal figures representing the Wall Builders is CNN’s Lou Dobbs, host of the television show Lou Dobbs Tonight that focuses on politics and economics. Dobbs stridently rails against illegal immigration and attacks any people or institutions—including the Catholic Church and Mormon Church—that even remotely acknowledge that illegal immigrants are human beings.

He goes so far as to take on President Bush for his supposed partiality toward illegal immigrants, writing, “Labor leaders, Bush and Rove (Bush’s deputy chief of staff) join Cardinal Roger Mahoney, the head of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who all apparently believe the interests of the illegal alien population transcend the law of the land and the interest of the American people.”

Considering the above, you’d think they would come up with something better than Band-Aid solutions such as building a multi-billion dollar, double-layered fence stretching from San Diego to the southernmost tip of Texas.

That’s like trying to keep a pot of water from boiling over by clamping the lid on more tightly. Why don’t you just get to the source of the problem and turn off the stove instead?

If you don’t want Mexico’s poor spilling over the border, then work to “turn off” the conditions that drive them to spill over.

The real solution to the illegal immigration problem is more foreign investment and free trade with Mexico. If poor Mexicans had viable opportunities at home to earn a decent living, then they wouldn’t risk their lives to come work illegally in a country whose language and culture they do not understand.

It’s a win-win solution. Poor Mexicans would gain economically while Americans wouldn’t have an illegal immigration problem.

But wait a second. The Wall Builders are against NAFTA and other free trade economic policies that might actually keep Mexicans in Mexico. To these protectionists, free trade just amounts to sending American jobs abroad, leaving American workers the victims of mass corporate layoffs.

For example, in his book Exporting America, Dobbs excoriates corporations for outsourcing jobs overseas. He specifically cites Maytag for moving a factory to Mexico.

But, the Wall Builders shouldn’t be singled out for complaining about the problem of illegal immigration, yet opposing the solution of free trade.

The far-left, anti-globalization, immigrant rights camp also engages in a similar hypocrisy. I shall refer to them as the “Anti-Globalizers.” They place great emphasis on the humanity of illegal immigrants, stressing that illegal immigrants do dirty jobs that Americans are unwilling to do. They advocate for amnesty, leniency and compassion.

Yet, the Anti-Globalizers also oppose the foreign investment and free trade policies that would actually create jobs for Mexicans in Mexico. They march in the streets denouncing corporations and sweatshops, but the reality is that free trade works—just go read a Thomas Friedman column.

In the end, the Wall Builders and the Anti-Globalizers are united in their shared opposition to free trade. Neither side acknowledges that free trade benefits Americans through lower costs (think of all the Chinese imports at Wal-Mart) and increased demand for U.S. goods and services overseas (which creates even more jobs for Americans).

It’s all quite sad. Who is truly working in the interests of illegal immigrants? Neither side.

Yet, I do have to give the Anti-Globalizers credit for at least caring about the welfare of illegal immigrants, even if the policies they advocate are misguided. They acknowledge the common humanity and equality of all human beings, regardless of national origin.

The Wall Builders, on the other hand, take a more parochial viewpoint: Americans first; forget about all the others.

Unfortunately, what unites Anti-Globalizers and Wall Builders is their hypocritical distaste for the obvious solution: Promote free trade and create more jobs in Mexico.

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Preeti, 28, recently graduated from Duke University with a master's degree in public policy. Her background in writing includes stints as an op-ed columnist at The Chronicle (Duke's student newspaper) and at the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper in her hometown of Lexington, Kentucky.

The views and opinions expressed in these comments do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The CulturalConnect.

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