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Markets in everything, Mexican edition
Here is a nice, relaxing vacation idea for my wife:
The 20 or so people fleeing the Border Patrol aren't undocumented immigrants - they're tourists about 700 miles from the border. Most are well-heeled professionals more likely to travel to the United States in an airplane than on foot.
They've each paid 150 pesos - about $15 - for what is perhaps Mexico's strangest tourist attraction: A night as an illegal immigrant crossing the Rio Grande.
Advertising for the mock journey, which takes place at a nature park in the central state of Hidalgo, tells the pretend immigrants to "Make fun of the Border Patrol!" and to "Cross the Border as an Extreme Sport!"
As craven as the advertising sounds, the organizers say they are trying to build empathy for migrants by putting people in their shoes.
Here is the full story. Here is an interesting recent article on sympathy.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 24, 2006 at 09:46 AM in Economics | Permalink
Comments
In Miami we drive up to Tampa for the same thrill... congo river rapids = Gulf Stream
Posted by: David Malmstrom at Aug 24, 2006 2:34:17 PM
Robert Mugabe thought he could cash in on tourism too:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1378517_1,00.html
Posted by: Patrick R. Sullivan at Aug 24, 2006 3:45:14 PM
Ah, yes, the indiscreet charm of the Mexican bourgeiosie ...
Posted by: Steve Sailer at Aug 24, 2006 5:31:46 PM
I sympathize with the idea. However, this won't really put people in the shoes of illegal immigrants. Imagine they converted a prison into a tourist attraction were you can spend a night for a few bucks as a pretend-prisoner-tourist. Would spending a night in those facilities (knowing you are there voluntarily and will be leaving the next day to the comfort of your hotel) really put you in the shoes of a 25-year convicted prisoner?
The hardest part to simulate (and probably the toughest experience) is the mental anguish that comes with the uncertainties of the new life path, the commitment to a costly reversible situation, the unfamiliar people, language, culture, etc.
Posted by: Economister at Aug 24, 2006 6:49:14 PM
I found this article quite interesting but at the same time very strange. I dont believe that the tourists are going to look at this as the real thing but instead think of it as a game and an adventure. If the tourist to get some knowledge of this illegal immigrants and what they go through then maybe it is well worth the time and effort. I just dont believe that there should be illegal immigrants crossing the border in the first place. If I was in Mexico, then I probably would not attend this strange tourist attraction.
Posted by: Kendra at Aug 28, 2006 2:35:06 PM
Although I realize this is just a mere tourist attraction, it also seems to be poking fun at a severe problem affecting this country. Lower-skilled Americans are losing jobs everyday to illegal immigrants, which is helping to drive up welfare costs. Illegal aliens are driving up the cost for public medical services, which is costing the taxpayer money. Drugs are pouring in from the border, and the cost to fight this drug war plus the cost of incarcerating illegal aliens is staggering. The businesses that hire illegals are reaping the benefits while U.S. citizens are paying for it. As long as there is a demand for this type of labor, illegal immigrants will continue to pour in. The economic costs will continue to grow and the legal U.S. citizens will continue to suffer.
Posted by: RW at Sep 6, 2006 8:08:29 PM
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