It was a real honor to attend a reception in Santa Ana on Saturday night for Mexican presidential candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota hosted by the Hispanic 100, which is led by local businessman and political strategist Mario Rodriguez. A number of local dignitaries and Hispanic leaders were in attendance, all looking to get a glimpse of this bold,beautiful, and accomplished lady and to hear her speak about the hopes and dreams of the Mexican people. When Josefina spoke, you could hear and feel her passion and love for Mexico. She spoke glowingly of her admiration for and special friendship with Rosario Marin, who is a member of the Hispanic 100 and also former Treasurer of the United States under President George Bush from August 2001 to June 2003. For those who don’t know Josefina, she is a Mexican economist, businesswoman, and politician who has served in the National Action Party (PAN). She has served in various capacities under the current President Felipe Calderon, including Secretary of Education. In September of 2011, Josefina left her position as Coordinator of the Parliamentary Group to pursue the Presidency of Mexico in 2012.

We have our own election for President this year, which will hopefully retire Barack Obama and usher in a new Republican president who will restore our republic to fiscal sanity, create pro-business policies, get our energy economy growing again, and end the racial divisiveness that is the hallmark of the Obama presidency. Yet the upcoming election in Mexico is also of utmost importance to Americans in terms of building a stronger, more productive relationship between the United States and Mexico. My hope is that if Josefina wins, we will work more closely as countries to combat the drug cartels, boost the Mexican economy, and work towards policies that finally solve the illegal immigration problem, such as the immigration policy proposal advanced by the Lincoln Club of Orange County. As a member of both the Hispanic 100 and Lincoln Club, having worked on the policy with committee chairwoman Teresa Hernandez and other members committed to pursuing a real solution, I believe we have begun a new conversation on the illegal immigration problem that does not include citizenship for illegal immigrants.

As a matter of history, I lived in Mexico for a couple of years back in the early 1990s before moving to the OC, and I have a deep love for the Mexican people. That is why it tears my heart out that some Americans have such animus towards those who come here only to make a better life for themselves and their families. We had a wonderfully functioning guest worker program (The Bracero Program) from 1942 to 1964 that gave skilled field workers the opportunity to work in America. We did not have a serious illegal immigration problem until the program was killed because big agribusiness wanted illegal workers and convinced the federal government to look the other way while they exploited illegal labor from Mexico and other countries south of our border. This is a huge injustice, and I will not rest until illegal immigrants are no longer living in the shadows of America, exploited for their labor. This is the humanitarian issue of our generation. Yet you have spineless politicians that provide public benefits to illegal immigrants in the hopes they will eventually get citizenship and vote for them, not caring that as long as these people continue to live in the shadows, they are vulnerable to crime and exploitation. Additionally, they work for wages  that native-born Americans cannot compete with. It is a racket that has been going on for 48 years where everyone loses except for pandering politicians and exploitative business owners. It is time for this to come to an end, and I invite all conservatives to join us in bringing this about.