Making Up With Mexico

No tears were shed in Mexico the day Pete Wilson stepped down as governor of California, and Gray Davis knows that. The new governor understands that Mexico’s well-being is important to California. That’s why he is launching a healing process with a three-day visit starting today.

In Wilson’s eight years in Sacramento, the cross-border relationship was virtually suspended, largely because Wilson’s attitude toward Mexicans and Mexican Americans was perceived as disrespectful.

“Wilson,” says Jorge Montano, former Mexican ambassador to Washington, “single-handedly created an anti-Mexican atmosphere in California that produced a gamut of racist and xenophobic attitudes. Shamelessly, he used the issue of immigration to seek his reelection, never pondering the high cost it would have for Mexicans on both sides of the border.”

Davis will have to prove himself on this journey, aimed at establishing clear lines of communication with a country that should be a partner, not a problem, for the United States. This initial trip should dwell more on redefining the spirit of the bilateral relationship than on trade, immigration or other elements of the political/economic agenda. But for the future, issues like trade should be in the forefront.

Currently, Texas tops U.S. states trading with Mexico. California stands No. 2, though its economy is twice as large as Texas’. Davis should seek to change that and would get plenty of support from Mexico’s federal and state governments.

Immigration, legal and illegal, causes most of the friction between the two countries. Although immigration control remains largely a responsibility of the federal governments, California has a role to play in ameliorating the problems. In making this trip, Davis can take the lead, assuring Mexican officials that all immigrants will get fair treatment under his governorship. After all, one in four Californians has ancestral ties to Mexico.

The delegation accompanying the governor includes a number of key members of the state’s Latino leadership: Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, state Sen. Richard G. Polanco, Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and Assemblywoman Denise Moreno Ducheny. All should help in building new bridges of understanding rooted in bilateral concerns.