Mexico to Bush: Do not sign border fence
Mexico to Bush: Do not sign border fence
BY E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Copyright by The Associated Press
September 30, 2006
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico said Friday it will try to persuade President Bush not to sign a bill that would extend a wall along the border in an effort to stop illegal immigrants.
Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said if the legislation is approved, Mexico will send a letter strongly condemning the measure. Asked by a reporter if that meant the government would try to ''dissuade'' Bush from signing the bill into law, he replied, ''Without a doubt.''
''We have pointed out in a clear and unequivocal way that it seems unnecessary to us and seems wrong,'' Derbez added. ''We think it is a gesture that doesn't reflect the friendship between nations of Latin America and the Caribbean and the United States.''
Derbez's remarks came a day after his office issued a statement saying the border fence would harm relations between Mexico and the United States.
The House of Representatives and Senate are maneuvering to speed construction of a 700-mile fence along the border aimed at keeping migrants and criminals from entering the country illegally.
A House-Senate homeland security funding bill containing $1.2 billion to begin building the fence could be passed and sent to Bush before lawmakers depart Washington this weekend.
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said that only comprehensive immigration reform would stop millions of Mexicans from sneaking across the border into the U.S.
''A partial measure that is exclusively focused on security does not deal with reality and represents a political answer rather than a viable solution,'' it said in the statement.
There are an estimated 11 million Mexicans in the United States, about half of whom are illegal. Last year, Mexican migrants sent home more than $20 billion in remittances, providing Mexico with its second biggest source of foreign income after oil.
BY E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
Copyright by The Associated Press
September 30, 2006
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico said Friday it will try to persuade President Bush not to sign a bill that would extend a wall along the border in an effort to stop illegal immigrants.
Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said if the legislation is approved, Mexico will send a letter strongly condemning the measure. Asked by a reporter if that meant the government would try to ''dissuade'' Bush from signing the bill into law, he replied, ''Without a doubt.''
''We have pointed out in a clear and unequivocal way that it seems unnecessary to us and seems wrong,'' Derbez added. ''We think it is a gesture that doesn't reflect the friendship between nations of Latin America and the Caribbean and the United States.''
Derbez's remarks came a day after his office issued a statement saying the border fence would harm relations between Mexico and the United States.
The House of Representatives and Senate are maneuvering to speed construction of a 700-mile fence along the border aimed at keeping migrants and criminals from entering the country illegally.
A House-Senate homeland security funding bill containing $1.2 billion to begin building the fence could be passed and sent to Bush before lawmakers depart Washington this weekend.
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said that only comprehensive immigration reform would stop millions of Mexicans from sneaking across the border into the U.S.
''A partial measure that is exclusively focused on security does not deal with reality and represents a political answer rather than a viable solution,'' it said in the statement.
There are an estimated 11 million Mexicans in the United States, about half of whom are illegal. Last year, Mexican migrants sent home more than $20 billion in remittances, providing Mexico with its second biggest source of foreign income after oil.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 4:11 AM
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