The result is often psychological chaos. Too many second-generation Hispanics in the U.S., and Arabs in France, romanticize their “mother” country, which often they have never seen and would never return to if they had — while deprecating their parents’ adopted society. This schizophrenia is similar to what the polls reveal about the wishes of Mexican citizens themselves. Large numbers believe that the southwest U.S. belongs to them, yet they don’t want to stay in their own country. If Mexico were to absorb the American Southwest, would Mexicans still wish to emigrate there?

Hard Choice

With millions of illegal aliens already here, borders wide open in a time of war, and the ideal of assimilation under assault, there really are no more painless choices. Mexico is under no compulsion to reform its corrupt system when millions of its disaffected simply head north and send precious dollars south (some $10-15 billion annually in worker remittances). For Mexico to change the present system would be a lose-lose proposition: more social tension at home, less money coming in from the north.

An end to cheap, industrious labor in the U.S. would cause initial hardship to the American economy, raise wages and costs, and redefine the American attitude to physical and even menial labor — positive in the long run, painful and easily demagogued in the short term. Yet because the U.S. has a far better record of assimilation than Europe, it makes no sense for us to continue to emulate European racial separatism, which offers immigrants neither the economic opportunity nor the cultural discipline to succeed.

We should start by letting in far fewer immigrants from Mexico. An allotment of about 100,000 legal entrants — reasonable people could differ on the numbers — would privilege Mexicans (in recognition of our historic ties) but still ensure that those who came would do so legally and in numbers that would mitigate their ghettoization. Rather than predicating entry into the U.S. mostly on family affiliations, we should try to use sensible criteria to assess suitable Mexican immigrants — knowledge of English, education levels, familiarity with American laws and customs — to ensure that they are competitive with other newcomers and do not perpetuate an unassimilated underclass.

Tripartite border enforcement — a permanent and systematic barrier of some sort, increased manpower for apprehension, and employer sanctions — is crucial to ensure that immigrants arrive legally and in numbers manageable for assimilation. On this the public — in a Zogby poll 68 percent of Americans favor stationing troops along the border to curb unlawful entry — is far ahead of either political party.