Pubdate: Fri, 12 May 2006 Source: Miami Herald (FL) Copyright: 2006 The Miami Herald Contact: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262 Author: Leonard Pitts Jr. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) A SMOKIN' VIEW OF LIFE IN MEXICO AS A DRUG MECCA The following are translations of future letters to the editor of El Universal, a newspaper in Mexico City. The date of publication: May 12, 2016. Dear Editor: Yesterday's massive immigration rights rally in the capital should be a wake-up call for all Mexicans. I could not believe my eyes: one million American illegals marching in the streets to protest that bill in Congress to secure our northern border. We are being overrun by these people and it's our own fault: We should never have legalized drug possession back in 2006. -- IGNACIO RAMIREZ, Veracruz Dear Editor: Yesterday while taking my daughter to school, we had to step over three Americans nodding on the sidewalk. I asked them in plain Spanish to move, but they just gave me glassy-eyed stares and sat there drooling on themselves. If you want to solve our immigration problem, forget about amnesty, forget about hardening the border. Just remove the incentive. After all, they're only coming here for an opportunity they can't find in their own country: the opportunity to do legal drugs. -- CARMEN RUELAS, Tijuana Dear Editor: Is it too much to ask that they learn to speak the language? -- MARIA RODRIGUEZ, Zacatecas Dear Editor: I have nothing against Americans. Some of my best friends are American. So this is not about racism or nationalism. It's about the necessity for a sovereign nation to control its borders. Last night on the news, I saw hidden camera footage of hundreds of Americans swimming across the Rio Grande, carrying bongs and rolling papers in watertight bags. One border patrol agent told the reporter it's not worth it to catch them. They just keep coming back. -- JOSE QUESADA, Acapulco Dear Editor: Some people want to build a fence along the border. I say, build an electric fence. That would solve everything. -- JORGE CRUZ, Leon Dear Editor: The current anti-immigration mood in our country is shortsighted and wrong. It troubles me that we as Mexicans have such a negative attitude toward people who come here simply because they want to start new lives. New lives doing drugs, but still . . . People keep saying undocumented Americans are taking jobs from hardworking Mexicans. The truth is, the Americans take menial, demeaning work most Mexicans are unwilling to do. Do you want to make your own vanilla soy latte? I know I don't. -- ANA GOMEZ, Guadalajara Dear Editor: In 2006, I lived in a cardboard box in a mountainside. I supported myself by collecting rags and bottles. Ten years later, I own a palatial home, a getaway place on a beach in Acapulco and I'm closing this week on a spacious condo on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. I feel we should make it as easy as possible for the Americans to stay in our country. I believe in diversity. Diversity has been very, very good to me. -- ESTEBAN MORALES, President U-Pick Marijuana Farms, Chihuahua Dear Editor: I am an immigrant from the United States; I moved here legally in 2006, right after the law was passed. While I can understand the anger some native Mexicans feel at seeing so many Americans coming here, I hope that doesn't lead lawmakers to do anything that would destroy the one thing I've always cherished most about this country. By which I mean your live and let live spirit, your willingness to leave a girl alone to enjoy her hobbies. That means a lot to me. Oh, and by the way, crack is wack. -- WHITNEY HOUSTON, Ensenada - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman