Questions for Two Governments

Today it is easy to find many articles and news stories covering the challenges that the US and Mexican governments face.  Heated debates about solutions for Illegal immigration, drug smuggling, narco-violence and gun smuggling are routinely discussed on cable or found in newspapers across the country.

As a retired US Border Patrol/INS/ICE special agent, I would like to present a list of questions that I ponder rather than tell you what to think.  Please take these questions seriously and look at as many aspects of them as you can.   

Does the US need cheap Mexican labor?

Can the US operate without Mexican oil?

Can the US government stay financially solvent without trade from Mexico?

How much money has US corporations invested in Mexico?  

Are there any enforcement entities within the US that depend upon and exist because of illegal immigration and American use/addiction to illegal drugs within the US?

Are there any private corporations who profit because of illegal immigration and use/addiction to illegal drugs within the US?

Would Mexican illegal aliens continue to try and come or stay here if they could earn a living wage and be safe at home in Mexico?

Is it reasonable to believe that Mexican cartel money and influence affect the outcome of Mexican political elections?

Is it possible that Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s war on drugs is actually an attempt to wipe out rival drug cartel competitors?

Can the Mexican government stay financially solvent without the profits of illegal drugs?

Can the Mexican government stay financially solvent without the remittances sent back to Mexico by Mexicans living with the US?

Can the Mexican government stay financially solvent without US trade and financial aid?

Who pays for the medical and educational expenses of Mexican illegal aliens living in the US?

Do any US corporations pay any taxes that go toward the medical and educational expenses of illegal aliens living in the US?

Can the US and Mexican economies operate if the US/Mexican border was closed?

Does Washington turn a blind eye to the narco-violence in Mexico because of fear of upsetting the economic ties between the two countries?

Does Washington put corporate economic interests above the civil rights and lives of the Mexican poor and the average US taxpayers?

If Mexico were to implode or collapse into a civil war, would the US send its military there to stop the violence?

What would happen if ten million Mexican citizens lined up at the border and US immigration offices across America and asked for asylum in the US because of the narco-violence in Mexico?

Can the war on drugs realistically be won?

What would the legalization of all drugs mean to both countries?