How U.S. Foreign Policy is Causing Illegal Immigration, Urban Crime and Destabilization of the Americas

A new book out in October details how the current administration’s policy towards Latin America is actually creating the very immigration issues President Bush is fighting to solve.

Saving the Americas: The Dangerous Decline of Latin America…and What the U.S. Must Do, by Pulitzer Prizewinning Miami Herald syndicated columnist Andres Oppenheimer, due out on October 9, 2007, highlights the Bush administration’s failure to reach out to its own neighbors in order to create a stable environment for the people of the United States.

“When it comes to everyday issues that affect most Americans—whether immigration, trade, the environment or, increasingly, energy—no region in the world has a bigger impact on the United States than Latin America,” writes Oppenheimer.

As an acknowledged expert on Latin America, Oppenheimer uses his experience and reporting skills to show how this region is becoming increasingly less important on the world stage, and the resulting negative effects on the lives of Americans.

“Though less apparent to most Americans—and less costly—than its blunders elsewhere in the world, the Bush Administration was making major mistakes in Latin America, among other things by declaring the region a major U.S. priority while ignoring it almost entirely, and reflexively pushing free trade as if that alone would ensure hemispheric prosperity.”

By comparing the successes of China and the Asian Bloc to Latin America, Oppenheimer clearly demonstrates how a region can rise from economic and political obscurity, to become a major world power, and a potential liability for the United States.