WSJ.com - Mexican Wave

WSJ.com - Mexican Wave:

"What would happen to Mexico if we were to suddenly cut off the escape valve provided by immigration to the U.S.? Unemployment and underemployment, already major problems, would increase dramatically. Remissions from immigrants, which total some $18 billion per year and are the lifeblood of many rural communities, would dry up. The widespread frustration felt by the population caught between rising crime and diminished economic expectations -- which fuels the populist presidential campaign of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador -- would almost certainly become more acute. There is no scenario in which these developments would be positive for Mexican political and social stability. And there is no scenario in which a politically and socially unstable Mexico is in the interest of the U.S."

A bigger question than how we stop illegal immigration from Mexico may be, what pressure can be put on the governement of Mexico to join the 21st century and develop an economy for the masses, rather than the priveledged?