Guest Comment: The War of 1848 may yet be lost

Those of us who are occasional history buffs may remember that it came about because of a boundary dispute with Mexico.

It ultimately resulted in the invasion of Mexico and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo which ceded the territory of what is now New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California to the United States.

Apparently this has never sat well with Mexico and the ceded territory continues to be referred to as “Occupied Mexico.”

This in turn creates an attitude that it is OK to enter America illegally--it really belongs to us anyway.

Fast forward to 2008 and what we may be observing in illegal immigration is a not so subtle response to the outcome of the 1848 War some 160 years later.

As the saying goes “what goes around comes around.”

Thus, we presently have an invasion of the United States, not by the Mexican Army which would not stand a chance against the United States Army and which would invite another invasion of Mexico, but by an army of illegals aided and abetted by the Mexican government, drug users, U.S. politicians and the so-called do-gooders espousing humanitarian goals.

The numbers of this invasion are variously cited as being from 12 to 20 plus million and climbing.

The impact of it on our infrastructure, our schools, our hospitals and our communities generally is overwhelming and in many cases devastating.

The possibility of it being permanent is real, largely because it served so many powerful interest in America. The taxpayers will pay!

Given the impact of this invasion what does America have to look forward to?

One need only to look south of the border to know.

The present government of Mexico under Calderon is said to making a noble effort to drive out the various drug cartels.

However, these efforts will likely be futile because according to “Time” magazine the street value of the drugs trafficking through Mexico is 25 billion dollars while the Mexican government has appropriated only seven billion for national security.

This does not bode well for Calderon’s effort to stamp out the drug cartels.

The next president of Mexico could well be one controlled by a drug lord, much as Colombia was once controlled by the late Pablo Escobar.

If so, he is likely to be more aggressive than Calderon has been in pushing illegal immigration because of a desire to expand drug markets in the U.S.

Calderon, to his credit, is not interested in expanding the drug market but he cannot deny the remittances Mexico receives from the illegals in the United States.

U.S. politicians will aid and abet this huge invasion by rationalizing amnesty, employers in the U.S. will lobby fervently for cheap slave labor, the do-gooders (e.g., Samaritans, etc.) will continue naively or deliberately to undermine the rule of law.

And thus, the War of 1848 will ultimately be lost.

Welcome to the Untied States of Mexico.

Sherman Frey is a professor emeritus of Northern Illinois University. He was a public school teacher, administrator, former member of the Continental School board, and a Korean War veteran and Minute Man. The views expressed are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of this newspaper.