Lawdy Miss Clawdy

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum hopes Mexican criminal Julio César Chávez Jr. will be deported

Last month in Anaheim, California, Jake “The Problem Child” Paul, also known as “El Gallo Dorado,” smacked the living fertilizer out of Julio César Chávez Jr. in a unanimous decision. As the loser licked his wounds, ICE targeted him for “expedited removal” from the United States due to false statements on Chávez’s tourist visa, which he had overstayed. The boxer was also wanted on weapons and drug charges in Mexico, so up jumped Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum.

“The hope is that he will be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico,” Sheinbaum told reporters, and she could be on to something. According to the federal Bureau of Prisons, in figures last updated on June 28, 12,782 Mexican nationals are serving time in American prisons, a full 8.2 percent of the entire US prison population and the most of any country outside the USA.

If Claudia Sheinbaum sought to transfer those Mexican criminals to Mexican prisons, to serve their time at Mexico’s expense, President Trump would surely give a listen. It’s not clear how much Mexico now pays the United States to house more than 12,000 Mexican nationals, but a ballpark figure could be zero. Perhaps some funds could be extracted from the more than $63 billion Mexicans in the USA send to Mexico every year. As Victor Davis Hanson notes, much of that money is freed up by the “multifaceted subsidies” from American taxpayers.

A full 83.6 percent of convicts in American prisons are US citizens, so the nation has no need to import criminals. On the other hand, according to the federal Department of Justice, 94 percent of confirmed aliens in DOJ custody are unlawfully present in the USA, just like Julio César Chávez Jr. Claudia Sheinbaum wants him back, so maybe the two countries can work out a group rate for the others.

Meanwhile, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” was a hit for Lloyd Price, in 1952, before rhythm and blues had been rebranded as rock and roll. When Chuck Berry told Beethoven to roll over and dig these rhythm and blues, this is what he meant. Check out the cover by Elvis Presley, back in 1972.