Following Mexico's Lead ...

The Arizona Republic today features a story noting that, despite some efforts to bring driver's licenses to illegal immigrants (many of them Mexican) here in the U.S., Mexico is far less accommodating to its "undocumented workers":

All of Mexico's 31 states, along with Mexico City, require foreigners to present a valid visa if they want a driver's license, according to a survey of states by The Arizona Republic.

"When it comes to foreigners, we're a little more strict here," said Alejandro Ruíz, director of education at the Mexican Automobile Association....

Mexican officials said the application rules are strictly enforced, especially in southern states that have a problem with illegal immigrants from Central America.

"Last week a man came here (with a tourist visa) and said he was working as a deliveryman," said Denia Gurgua, manager of the driver's license office in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of the southern state of Chiapas.

She said she denied him a license because he did not have a visa to work in Mexico.

"Our constitution has certain restrictions for foreigners," she said.

Naturally, this sort of story is red meat for immigration restrictionists, who cite it as some sort of example for why we should be equally hard on our illegal-immigrant population:

"The fact that all 31 states in Mexico would have such a common-sense position . . . shows to me a certain hypocrisy on the part of the Mexican government, because they are constantly criticizing those of us in Congress who want immigration laws to be tougher up here," said (Rep. Peter) King of New York.

OK, so the Mexican government is hypocritical -- no surprise there, seeing that it's also backward and corrupt. So what? How does that have any bearing on what American policies should be?

There's a reason why an estimated 6 million Mexicans have fled for this country, and the Mexican government is a big part of it. It's hardly a given that anything Mexico's lawmakers do is "common sense," let alone something we should emulate.

There may be some good arguments against giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, but the policies of a kleptocratic Third World regime certainly aren't among them.