Before any more 'outrage' at
the Arizona law . . . read what, it's like from the other side of that fence...
This was Received from Tom
O'Malley, who was a Director with S.W. BELL in Mexico City:
"I spent five years working in
Mexico. I worked under a tourist Visa for three months and could legally renew
it for three more months. After that you were working illegally. I was
technically illegal for three weeks waiting on the FM3 approval.
"During that six months our
Mexican and U.S. attorneys were working to secure a permanent work visa called
a 'FM3'. It was in addition to my U.S. passport that I had to show each time I
entered and left the country. Barbara's was the same, except hers did not permit
her to work.
"To apply for the FM3, I needed
to submit the following notarized originals (not copies):
1. Birth certificate for Barbara and
me.
2. Marriage certificate.
3. High school transcripts and proof
of graduation.
4. College transcripts for every college
I attended and proof of graduation.
5. Two letters of recommendation from
supervisors I had worked for at least one year.
6. A letter from the St. Louis Chief
of Police indicating that I had no arrest record in the U.S. and no outstanding warrants
and, was "a citizen in good
standing".
7.Finally, I had to write a letter
about myself that clearly stated why there was no Mexican citizen with my
skills and why my skills were important to Mexico.
We called it our 'I am the greatest person on Earth' letter. It was fun to
write.
"All of the above were in
English that had to be translated into Spanish and be certified as legal
translations, and our signatures notarized. It produced a folder about 1.5
inches thick with English on the left side & Spanish on the right."
"Once they were completed,
Barbara and I spent about five hours, accompanied by a Mexican attorney, touring Mexican
government office locations and being photographed and fingerprinted at least
three times at each location, and we remember at least four locations where we were instructed
on Mexican tax, labor, housing, and criminal law and that we were required to
obey their laws or face the consequences.
We could not protest any of the
government's actions or we would be committing a felony. We paid out four
thousand dollars in fees and bribes to complete the process. When this was done
we could legally bring in our household goods that were held by U.S. Customs in
Laredo, Texas .
This meant we had rented furniture
in Mexico while awaiting our goods. There were extensive fees involved here
that the company paid."
"We could not buy a home and
were required to rent at very high rates and under contract and compliance with
Mexican law."
"We were required to get a
Mexican driver's license. This was an amazing process. The company arranged for
the licensing agency to come to our headquarters location with their
photography and fingerprint equipment and the laminating machine. We showed our
U.S. license, were photographed and fingerprinted again and issued the license
instantly after paying out a six dollar fee. We did not take a written or
driving test and never received instructions on the rules of the road. Our only
instruction was to never give a policeman your license, if stopped and asked. We
were instructed to hold it against the inside window away from his grasp. If he
got his hands on it you, would have to pay ransom to get it back."
"We then had to pay and file
Mexican income tax annually using the number of our FM3 as our ID number. The company’s
Mexican accountants did this for us and we just signed what they prepared. It
was about twenty legal size pages annually."
"The FM3 was good for three
years and renewable for two more after paying more fees."
"Leaving the country meant
turning in the FM3 and certifying we were leaving no debts behind and no outstanding
legal affairs (warrants, tickets or liens) before
our household goods were released to customs."
"It was a real adventure and if
any of our Senators or Congressmen went through it once, they would have a different attitude
toward Mexico."
"The Mexican government uses its
vast military and police forces to keep its citizens intimidated and compliant.
They never protest at their capitol or government offices, but do protest daily
in front of the United States Embassy. The U.S. Embassy looks like a strongly
reinforced fortress and during most protests the Mexican military surrounds the
block with their men standing shoulder to shoulder in full riot gear to protect
the Embassy. These protests are never shown on U.S. or Mexican TV. There is a
large public park across the street where they do their protesting.
Anything can cause a protest such as proposed law changes in California or Texas."
Please feel free to share this with everyone
who thinks we are being hard on the illegals.
VERIFIED!:
.
__,_._,___
"I prefer liberty with
danger to peace with slavery." Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"One of the penalties of not
participating in politics is that you will be governed by your
inferiors." Plato
"Democracy
is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to
have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb
contesting the
vote." Benjamin
Franklin
The problems we face today are there
because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for
a living.
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