Mexican official with views that merit respect

As a Mexican-American, nothing tends to make me feel less Mexican and more American than spending time with an official of the Mexican government.

It's been my experience over many years of interviewing and writing about these "Mexicrats" that most come from the privileged class with life experiences far removed from those of average Mexicans and even further removed from the millions of Mexicans who head north in search of better lives. And so, it's not often that I find a Mexican official who seems fair, reasonable and insightful. Maria de los Remedios Gomez Arnau, the newly installed Mexican consul general in San Diego, fits the bill.

A few weeks ago, Gomez met with the editorial board of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Topics included recent outbreaks of violence along the border, the drug war, trade and -- oh yes -- immigration. While stressing the "interconnection" of the United States and Mexico and the fact that there are two sides to every issue confronting the two countries, Gomez framed immigration as a global labor supply issue.

"We need to recognize," she said, "both that there are migrant workers needed here in the U.S. labor market while Mexico, and other countries that participate in the U.S. labor market, have the supply of those workers whether they are at the professional level or at other lower- and medium-skill levels."

She was right to point out that there are not enough channels for people to come to the United States legally from Mexico because, in the case of low-skilled workers, there are "no visas for the kinds of jobs that they perform." But the consul general went a little far when she insisted that these workers "can't be here working documented" because legal channels are not available. Notice how quickly she absolved the individual of any responsibility for breaking the law? These people can't be here legally so they have to be here illegally.

When asked about whether Mexico believed it too had a responsibility to help police the border and prevent its citizens from crossing into the United States without proper documents, Gomez claimed the Mexican government is "aware that, in immigration and other issues that have bilateral impact, there is a joint responsibility."

Take that with a grain of salt. Mexican officials have always made an effort to point out that their country isn't Cuba, and that they're not about to prevent their people from leaving if that's what they choose to do any more than the U.S. would try to stop its citizens from moving to Mexico or Canada.

Ironically, there is one commodity streaming into Mexico that Mexican officials desperately want to keep out, and they're asking the United States to help them in that effort -- shipments of illegal arms that are being imported by drug cartels. For the record, the United States government has launched a new effort to battle gun-smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border. But -- as long as Mexican drug cartels are demanding guns, and American drug customers are demanding contraband -- the supply is likely to be there.

The United States and Mexico have always had a shared border. And now, as fate would have it, they have a shared empathy.

© 2008, Washington Post Writers Group