By: Rachael Lamb

Published in the Birmingham Weekly, October 2006

What’s so scary about Mexicans? Immigrant expert asks candid questions

If there is one man who can mend the problems with the US-Mexico immigration
laws, it can be found in the man with the slicked-back hair and flamboyant mustache.
The original and sometimes provocative ideas of the former college professor, Dr.
Juan Hernandez, concerning Mexican migrants, have caught the attention of US
government powerhouses.
Classified as one of the most brilliant men in the world by Fortune Magazine and
named as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in Hispanic Business magazine,
Hernandez is the first US-born cabinet member in the Mexican government, heading the
President’s Office for Mexicans Abroad, which serves more than 24 million Mexicans in
foreign countries.
Hernandez, the President of the Organization for Hispanic Involvement, will be
speaking at Samford University, Thursday, as part of the Davis lecture series, in which
public intellectuals come and speak about timely topics.
“We asked Dr. Hernandez to come speak because of his provocative and
innovative ideas,” Samford professor Dr. Christopher Metress said. “He knows how to
challenge people on all sides of the political spectrum,” he said.
“We thought it was a timely visit with the mid-term election season in November
and the recent votes in Congress having to do with immigration issues.”
Hernandez, the son of a Mexican father and Texan mother, will be speaking on
the subject of his new book, The New American Pioneers: Why Are We Afraid of
Mexican Immigrants?
The leading expert in Mexico-US relations will be discussing the importance
Mexican immigrants have on the US economy.
“The US is only growing at a 1% population rate,” Hernandez said. “Because our
76 million baby boomers are retiring, we need immigrants to keep out population over
that 1%.”
“We need about 400,000 new people every year to keep the economics growing
here,” he said. “Other countries such as Japan, Spain, UK, and France, are having
difficulties in keeping labor and fulfilling the jobs they already have. Problems are arising
because they are growing less than 1%.”
Hernandez says the problems lie in the fact that the US continues to give out jobs
but not enough visas. He supports increasing the number of US guest-worker visas
attainable for Mexicans and supplying amnesty to the estimated 3.5 million illegal
Mexicans in the US.
“The government is only giving out 60,000 visas a year,” he said. “It needs to be
giving out several hundred thousand.”
The first half of Hernandez’s book gives factual information backing up his stance
on the importance of immigrants in the US.
“We have 45 million Hispanic immigrants living the American dream who are
fueling the economy of the nation,” he said.
The second part of the risky-titles book spills out stories – successful as well as
tragic – of immigrants in the US.
“I describe the backgrounds of these new American pioneers; hopefully to touch
the hearts and minds of my readers.”
With the Hispanic population up to 15% of the nation’s people, it is no wonder
that Hernandez’s arguments on behalf of migrants are among the top issues of US and
Mexican government negotiations.
Although US government officials carefully take into consideration Hernandez’s
goals and objectives, they don’t always agree with the fine print.
When Hernandez had the idea of the Mexican government supplying safety kits,
complete with everything from food to condoms, to Mexican migrants crossing the
border to the US, it was criticized by US officials. It was suggested because of the 14
migrants who died trying the cross the Arizona desert on their way to America.
Hernandez, who spends at least one day out of the week in the US advocating
immigrants’ rights and opportunities, believes the key is in stopping the temptation
Mexicans are faced with to work in the US.
“If I do nothing to bring (employment) to migrant-sending areas in the next five
to six years, you can say I’ve done very little at all,” he said. “We must create
opportunities at home.”
Despite the discouragement of the condom idea, Hernandez has been successful
in many of his objectives.
He convinced US banks to lessen the fees they charge Mexicans to wire money
back to their families. Once paying $40 for one wire, now migrants pay only $1.50 in
some places.
He also helped come up with a project known as Projecto Padrino, in which
successful Mexicans abroad adopt, or set up their businesses, in areas of poverty in
Mexico that have high rates of emigration to the US.
Hernandez passionately discusses the need for all Mexican workers in the US to
obtain legal status.
“There are several million Mexican people on the United States that are creating
wealth for the Unites States and Mexico,” he said. “These are all good people who have
gone up there to work, they have found jobs, they are builders of the country.”
Hernandez has both sides on his team, working alongside Mexican President
Vicente Fox and President Bush, to better the US-Mexico relations concerning the
border and immigration.
“What we are trying to do, what this president (referring to Fox) is trying to do, is
show that the 20 million Mexicans living in the United States, are important to Mexico
and are important to the United States.”
The lecture begins at 7:30 on Thursday night in the Wright Center concert hall at
Samford University.