U.S., Mexico to Tighten Border, Send Migrants Home

Reuters ^ | Feb. 20, 2004 | Alistair Bell

[FairOpinion]

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States and Mexico agreed on Friday to tighten security along their border and start sending illegal immigrants caught sneaking across the frontier back home by bus or plane.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Mexican Interior Minister Santiago Creel signed an accord to step up cooperation on security on the border, seen by some as the soft underbelly for the U.S. war on terror.

The agreement includes a controversial plan to start repatriating illegals to their hometowns rather than simply dumping them on the Mexican side of the frontier.

The two countries have yet to work out details of the repatriation plan, a touchy issue for Mexicans sensitive to any sign of U.S. interference in their internal affairs.

"Together we need to reinforce secure and orderly repatriation of migrants to their places of origin," Ridge told a news conference in Mexico City.

Mexico is also keen to ramp up security on the 2,000-mile border to cut the deaths of hundreds of Mexicans who perish every year making the dangerous illegal crossing in search of a higher standard of living in the United States.

Creel tried to calm fears that a forced repatriation inside Mexico would be against Mexican law.

"Our constitution guarantees free movement inside our territory and of course we are going to comply strictly and exactly with the constitution," Creel said.

SENSITIVE ISSUE

Mexican President Vicente Fox's government was criticized for allowing U.S. Transportation Security Administration agents to direct some security operations at Mexico City airport during increased vigilance of U.S.-bound flights in January.

Ridge said there was no evidence of terrorists entering the United States from Mexico but warned that networks of drug smugglers and people traffickers in Mexico could be used by terrorists.

"We recognize, from the president on down, that there is no more important homeland security relationship than the one we have with Mexico," he said.

With the U.S. presidential election looming, Friday's border security accord also seeks to stem fears among the U.S. electorate that White House proposals to legalize millions of Hispanic guest workers could prompt tens of thousands more to pour over the border.

"We are having some discussions about the president's initiative," said Ridge deputy Asa Hutchinson. "And it's going to be rough sailing unless members of Congress and the American public understand that we have the capability of securing our border."

President Bush is proposing to grant work permits to millions of mainly Latin American immigrants under a three-year visa program which his critics see as an attempt to win Hispanic votes in the upcoming presidential election.

Friday's accord, which critics may also view as a vote-grabbing maneuver, proposes deploying more security staff along the border and starting an information campaign to deter would-be migrants.

It paves the way for U.S. border patrols to send arrested illegals home -- possibly by force --- rather than simply dumping them in Mexican territory where they can remain stranded or immediately try to cross the border again.

At least 346 Latinos died in the year to September 2003 crossing the U.S. border, the highest in three years. Most deaths occur in the searing heat of summer when conditions are harsh for migrants stranded in the desert.

[FairOpinion]

Landmark agreement!

[FairOpinion]

PING

"MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States and Mexico agreed on Friday to tighten security along their border and start sending illegal immigrants caught sneaking across the frontier back home by bus or plane. "

Will people give Bush credit for this?

[Mo1]

PING

[Dog]

Friday's accord, which critics may also view as a vote-grabbing maneuver,

No bias here.......no sir.

[FairOpinion]

PING

[Guillermo]

Why should anyone get credit for enforcing existing law?

[PRND21]

Go Bush Go! Though, I expect the unappeasables to still complain.

[nopardons]

No, not here on FR, they won't.

[BnBlFlag]

I'll believe it when I see it! Lets watch what they do and not what they say.

[Howie66]

Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. Vicente Fox has almost as much crdeibility as the either one of the clintons.

[FairOpinion]

Does this mean that all those one issue people, whose issue is illegal immigration will now concede that Bush IS addressing the problem and is taking effective steps to stop illegal immigration? Will they now vote for him, or just say that this is not enough, and no matter what he would do, it still wouldn't be enough.

[Howlin]

Well, well.......just as I thought:

BUSH IS DOING NOTHING!!!!!!

[The KG9 Kid]

"... The United States and Mexico agreed on Friday to tighten security along their border and start sending illegal immigrants caught sneaking across the frontier back home by bus or plane."

Forgive my ignorance, but what was the US Border Patrol supposed to be doing before this landmark agreement?

[Howlin]

Will people give Bush credit for this?

No. Especially on this web site!

[BushisTheMan]

Will people give Bush credit for this?

Not likely...they'd rather cry "amnesty". Funny how they all love Ronald Reagan so much and forget how he actually did give amnesty. Bush's program is not amnesty.

[FairOpinion]

You left out the sarcasm -- the unappeasables will actually agree with your statement "Bush is doing nothing", because they will minimize this, refusing the acknowledge this landmark agreement -- because it IS indeed a landmark agreement.

[Mo1]

Betcha they will say it's not enough

[Carry_Okie]

Will people give Bush credit for this?

Certainly, if it's true.

[BushisTheMan]

wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Howlin]

Lets watch what they do and not what they say.

Ah, you're READING what they are doing in this news article.

Not good enough for you?