Thomas Friedman wrote an intriguing article in last week’s NY Times on how immigration for highly-skilled workers could save the American economy. He said the following:
“All you need to do is grant visas to two million Indians, Chinese and Koreans,” said Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Indian Express newspaper. “We will buy up all the subprime homes. We will work 18 hours a day to pay for them. We will immediately improve your savings rate — no Indian bank today has more than 2 percent nonperforming loans because not paying your mortgage is considered shameful here. And we will start new companies to create our own jobs and jobs for more Americans.”
“While his tongue was slightly in cheek, Gupta and many other Indian business people I [Friedman] spoke to this week were trying to make a point that sometimes non-Americans can make best: “Dear America, please remember how you got to be the wealthiest country in history. It wasn’t through protectionism, or state-owned banks or fearing free trade. No, the formula was very simple: build this really flexible, really open economy, tolerate creative destruction so dead capital is quickly redeployed to better ideas and companies, pour into it the most diverse, smart and energetic immigrants from every corner of the world and then stir and repeat, stir and repeat, stir and repeat, stir and repeat.”
But what about Mexicans? Few aside from pro-Hispanic groups are advocating to bring more Latinos into the United States. Indeed, just the opposite is occurring. The US government hired a consulting firm in Georgetown, Elevacion, which created an album called “Migracorridos” that tells of the real-life dangers of crossing the borders in an attempt to reduce undocumented migration.
I found the songs genuine and would never know their source unless I had read this article (follow the link to listen). Apparently they are playing on certain Mexican radio stations, including La Zeta in Morelia (site of a terrorist attack earlier this year and birthplace of President Calderon) who had no idea the song came from the US.
While the majority of Mexicans that wish to emigrate to the US are unskilled compared to East/South Asian migrants that Friedman writes about, it’s important to make distinctions between documented and undocumented immigrants. In particular, my Mexico co-blogger Alejandro is one of those highly skilled immigrants who just happens to come from Mexico.
