The Price of Illegal Immigration

Forgive me if I missed the media coverage of the international dustup between Democratic state Sen. Gloria Romero of Los Angeles and the Mexican government the other day. The media downplay stories they perceive as “blaming the victim,” particularly on the hands-off topic of illegal immigration.

Romero has gone against the tide before. Now she’s rattling cages over the 28,672 foreigners in California prisons who cost taxpayers a staggering sum to feed and house, one-half of whom are illegal aliens from Mexico.

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This avoidance behavior got a workout at Romero’s prison system hearing in Los Angeles on Dec. 16. Diplomats from the consulates of Canada, Germany and Sweden testified about fixing a flawed country-to-country prisoner transfer program the Schwarzenegger administration hopes can someday send up to 6,400 eligible prisoners home — mostly to Mexico. The behavior of the Canadians, Swedes and Germans stood in stark contrast to that of the Mexicans. In a bizarre bit of public theater that reminded me of my year in Czechoslovakia in 1991, where I observed bumbling ex-Communist officials firsthand, the Mexican government boycotted Romero’s hearing, offering one of the lamest official fibs I’ve ever heard.

First, Mexican officials failed to respond to Romero’s invitation to testify — pretty odd in itself. So that morning, Romero’s aide telephoned the Mexican consulate, down the road in L.A., to find out when they would arrive. According to Sen. Romero, noting it for the official record, Mexico claimed that “because of budgetary concerns, they could not fly the appropriate consulate (official)” from Mexico. Said Romero: “I am very disappointed at their failure to participate . . . to first of all give me even the courtesy of a phone call that they were not showing up.”

And, the peeved senator added, “We stressed that a local consulate official was sufficient.”

I’ll admit, I audibly guffawed over the bit about how Mexico, the nation, can’t afford an airline ticket. Mexican diplomats live well, and the Mexican consulate in L.A. is impressive. Let’s just say they can afford the trip. Not that Romero needed a diplomat from Mexico City anyway.

But the Mexicans do nothing but double talk on illegal immigration. On the prisoner issue, Mexico strictly limits the number of prisoners it takes back — yet comically insists it has no limits. Pathetic. According to the California Board of Prison Terms, “all other nations accept all of their prisoners for transfer.” Except Mexico.

In 2003, Mexico took back only 109 prisoners from the U.S., even though in California alone, 17,500 prisoners are Mexican nationals — including more than 14,000 illegal aliens. And get this: Mexico won’t take back those who’ve been here longer than five years. Just because.

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