Posted on 04/20/2008 2:10:38 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
NEW ORLEANS — The Mexican consulate is reopening in New Orleans, six years after the Mexican government, citing budget constraints, closed the consulate to focus on areas with higher concentrations of Mexican tourists and immigrants.
The opening is planned for Monday, when President Bush, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are scheduled to be in the city for the North American Leaders' Summit.
Carlos Gonzalez Magallon, Mexico's consul general in Houston, advocated reopening the consulate to protect the rights of Mexicans working in the area. Many immigrant workers moved to the region for the rebuilding effort following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. An estimated 30,000 Mexican nationals in southeast Louisiana have had to rely on diplomatic services provided from Houston, about 350 miles from New Orleans.
Since the consulate closed in 2002, the Houston consulate has, at times, sent mobile consular offices to the New Orleans area.
Mexico also is New Orleans' largest foreign trading partner, Mexican officials say, and a consulate would be able to handle customs issues.
Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said the expected opening stands out in a trend of foreign diplomatic offices moving to Houston.
"Any international presence we have in the city is a positive step forward," he said.
This will be the 48th Mexican consulate in the United States.
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Bush is an idiot.
Do they have a “Return” counter???
He is beyond Idiot he is now a complete Arsehole with no respect for the American People, but he is concern about his Global Buddies and his people....the Mexicans.
I regret I ever voted for this IDIOTA!
Translation: The Mexicans are going to use New Orleans as a beach-head for an invasion by the drug cartels. Since New Orleans is already a disaster area akin to a third world toilet, they should feel right at home. The billions of unaccounted for aid dollars flowing into the region should help too.
“I regret I ever voted for this IDIOTA!”
Yes, but ...as you and I both know...
... the alternative was MUCH, MUCH WORSE.
The only thing the two parties disagree on is how much time to take us down the same path.
Thank goodness that Bush is going to be out soon and McCain is going to take his place. (Do I really, really need the sarc tag?)
there are now more mexican citizens in New Orleans than there are in Houston after Katrina. So this should be a no-brainer.
Of course, the state of Louisiana should start looking at the school districts and healthcare facilities (hospitals, etc) in the N.O. area and watch to see how costs are running up and who is causing it. Maybe they will decide that they would rather keep all those public resources available for the poor blacks in N.O. or they will decide that the newly arrived Mexicans (and others) who are doing all the reconstruction labor jobs are more deserving of all the taxpayer funded benefits.
We’ll have an incredibly clear case here of whether its the government in LA, and specifically N.O., who ‘don’t like black people’ like Bush was accused of or whether they will stand up and represent their own residents instead. And if they do stand up, maybe they can attract back to NO the hundreds of thousands of blacks who fled to Houston. I’m not counting on that until there is some kind of magical transformation in NO since blacks lived in a high humidity ghetto prior to Katrina and at least Houston has a growing economy. (as well as new victims to commit crimes against for those recently relocated gang members and otherwise criminal NO residents who are now in Houston).
As a person who has spent a great deal of time in New Orleans since Katrina, I can tell you that there was not a sufficient American labor force in the city to do the work that was needed to be done. Therefore, labor from Latin America was needed to supplement the lack of an American labor force.
Do you have source to back up that bit of information?
Ping!
Some work just don’t need doin’
These Mexican consulates are enemy bases. No nation has a right to flood another nation with its unwanted citizens. It’s an outrage aided and abetted by the fools and scum who rule us in DC
They’re committing the crimes that the refugees that left town can no longer commit and Bush wants to help them.
SEND THEM BACK, PRONTO!
there are no specific numbers since we’re talking about people who don’t want to be counted. But there were an estimated 300,000 new ‘residents’ who came into NO after Katrina. I personally noticed about 20-30,000 who left from Las Vegas out of the building trades seeking unlimited wages in NO.
Well that indeed is an interesting factoid considering the pre-Katrina population of New Orleans was around 525,000 and the city recently reached its highest post Katrina population of 300,000.
So, where are these 300,000 new residents that you speak of? I have spent 12 months in NOLA since Katrina and I never saw 300,000 new residents. Where do you suppose these 300,000 people are staying?
I don’t want to say 60 Minutes because that would make me look like a real idiot. But I did see in the MSM that the estimated illegal/immigrant population rose to 300,000 a year or so ago. I don’t think Nagin counted illegals in his ‘population’. But I also don’t think are going to register to vote though so Ray Nagin is still safe.
I know from builders in Phx and Los Angeles that they lost minimally thousands of labors and contractors to the draw of government provided contracts for things like ‘putting tarps on buildings’ at ridiculous contract prices which caused them to leave steady employment and make a run for the border (or bay, in this case). Plus, I did see a 60 Minutes story about the housing for illegals which some contractor had set up for all those he had brought in directly to work on his projects and that was somewhere in the low thousands.
“ease the burden there” ?????
Only in NO ????
Deport all the illegal aliens and we will all have a burden eased....
If Kerry had been elected, then maybe Rush would have spent 4 years of opposing Kerry than 4 years of propping up Bush.
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