This is interesting reading.. Take a look at how Mexico handles legal workers from the US..

Subject: American working in Mexico

                From the other side of the fence.....

               
                Doc,

                I received the following from (Tom O'Malley) who
                was a Director with SW BELL in Mexico City.
                Enjoy, Bill

                ****************************************************************************************************

                Hello Bill:

               
                You remember 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 US Attorneys
                were working to secure a permanent work visa called
                a FM3. It was in addition to my US 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) of my:
                1. Birth certificate for Barbara and I.
                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
                    indication I had no arrest record in the US 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 and 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,  we 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 Governments 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 US customs
                in Loredo 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 drivers license.  This was an amazing process. The company arranged  for the Licensing agency to come to our Headquarters location with their photography and finger print equipment and the laminating machine. We showed our  US 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 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 companies Mexican accountants did this
                for us and we just signed what they prepared. It was
                about twenty legal size pages annually.  The FM 3 was good for three years and renewable for two more after paying more fees.

                

                Leaving the country meant turning in the FM# 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 Congressman 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 White house
                or government offices but do protest daily in front
                of the United States Embassy. The US embassy looks
                like a strongly reinforced fortress and during most
                protests the Mexican Military surround the block
                with their men standing shoulder to shoulder in full
                riot gear to protect the Embassy. These protests are
                never shown on US 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 Arizona, California or Texas.

               
                 Please feel free to share this with everyone who
                thinks we are being hard on illegal immigrants.