Let's help Mexico be a better place

To the editor:

People have been complaining about illegal immigration. They coldly calculate what illegal Mexican immigrants cost the American people, seemingly blind to the fact that this country was built by immigrants on stolen land.

Most Mexicans want nothing more than the average American: to have a good home and a good job to support his family, something Mexico is ill-equipped to provide.

Most Americans may say, "What? Mexico a bad place? But they have wonderful beaches." The sad truth is Mexico is a truly horrible place ravaged by poverty, crime and government corruption. Take Mexico City, for example. The world's largest city is mostly a small metropolitan area surrounded by thousands of slums most Americans wouldn't let their dog live in. Breathing the air in Mexico City is said to the equivalent of smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day. It's no wonder Mexicans are willing to risk life and limb to get across the border to work demeaning jobs in sweatshops or as migrant farmers, all to get a small taste of the American dream.

Instead of building walls with armed guards, why don't we help make Mexico a decent place to live, and fight illegal immigration at its source? Of course, if we did that, where else would American corporations find to outsource labor?

Those who complain about illegal aliens should think about what they would do if they had the unfortunate luck of being born in a Mexican slum.

CHRIS SIEBERT, Cape Girardeau