Immigration bill gives Mexico's Fox political boost

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Vicente Fox's ruling party could be the big winner of an immigration overhaul passed in the U.S. Senate as it tries to hold on to power in July elections.

The Senate easily passed a bill on Thursday that would give millions of illegal immigrants, many of them Mexicans, a chance to become American citizens.

The most sweeping immigration bill in two decades, it could be watered down in a tough battle with the House of Representatives, where many lawmakers favor a crackdown on immigration, and it may never become law.

However, it is unlikely to be reach a vote before the July 2 elections in Mexico, allowing Fox and his conservative ruling party's candidate Felipe Calderon to hail it in the meantime as vindication of Fox's relentless courting of Washington.

The president is on a tour of the United States to lobby on immigration issues and responded jubilantly to the news from the Senate, saying it was a victory won by his government and the determination of millions of Mexicans living in America.

"It is a truly joyous day, a historic day," he said after raising his fist in victory to Mexican reporters traveling on his presidential jet.

Opposition politicians, led by leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, have criticized Fox for not being tougher with the United States on migration issues.

"I don't know what the president is celebrating," Lopez Obrador told reporters on a campaign trip in the northern town of Apodaca.

The leftist says emigration from Mexico has been fueled by Fox's free market economic policies and the lack of jobs.

"It surprises me that he is trying to use this affair as if it were a triumph of his government when he should be ashamed because four million Mexicans who have not had the opportunity to work during his government have left the country," he said.

Criticism of Fox intensified after President George W. Bush this month vowed to send up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the border, and the Senate approved building 370 miles of new high-security border fences.

Analysts say the new bill gives Fox something to show for his efforts and helps Calderon because there is little danger of it being knocked down this side of voting day.

"Even if it goes to conference and gets dusted away it ain't going to happen in the next week, its going to take a while and the elections will be done by then," said political analyst Federico Estevez.

With Fox barred under law from seeking reelection, Calderon and Lopez Obrador are locked in a tight race and campaigning has turned nasty in the last two months with both sides launching negative TV ads.

Mexicans are the largest immigrant group in America and would be the main beneficiaries if the Senate's reform bill makes it into law as it proposes a guest worker program and would put most of the 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to U.S. citizenship.

Immigration expert Arturo Solis, of the Tijuana-based Center for Border Studies and Human Rights, said the ruling National Action Party, PAN, would likely reap political advantage.

"The government knows how to sell the idea that the victory was theirs to the Mexicans, he said. "This could definitely benefit the PAN in the elections."

Millions of immigrants took part in massive marches in U.S cities in May to push for reforms and pressure against the criminalization of immigrants.

"This is the only good news we have had in a long time," Guatemalan migrant Alexander Chung, 21, said from a Catholic church shelter in the Mexican border town of Reynosa as he prepared to cross illegally into Texas.

"We know they are going to send troops to the border and security is really serious, so this news gives us a lift."

The looters of Mexico want to have the freedom to loot America.

After spending several years starting oil exploration crews for Pemex, I think I have The reason Mexico has become so bad.

I like the Mexican people in the fly over parts of Mexico. The mid level and workers of Pemex are good. It is the government and the high up in Pemex that are the vultures and looters. The peso was about 8 cents (12.5 to a dollar). When Pemex found the sito grande, a very large oil pool that covers parts of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco also a long ways into the Gulf of Mexico.

Pemex borrowed billions to produce this great oil find. The looters (government) stole most of the money and what they did buy was junk oil rigs and drill pipe, etc. 1,000 pesos which was worth about $80 now will not buy a coke (old pesos). This was due to the looters stealing billions from the Mexican people.

Instead of overthrowing the looters the Mexican people had an out, they had no weapons and they could cross into America and have a much safer life. This hurts both Mexico and America as Mexico lost some of it's hardest workers. The gangbangers and welfare frauds also came over from Mexico as they could rape and pillage at will.

The government of Mexico is propped up by the billions sent back by the illegals and by our government having borders that are too open.

The only chance I see to help America and Mexico is to seal the border, deport the people who are not here legally. We also need to arm the Mexican people so they can have a chance against the looters with their armies.

Just rec'd this via email.

62% of all "undocumented immigrants" in the United States are working for cash and not paying taxes, predominantly illegal aliens, working without a green card;
95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens;
83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix are for illegal aliens;
86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal aliens;
75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Albuquerque are illegal aliens;
More than 380,000 "anchor babies" were born in the United States in 2005 were to parents who are illegal aliens; making those 380,000 babies automatically U.S. citizens. 97.2% of all costs incurred from those births were paid by the American taxpayer;
More than 66% of all births in California are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers;
24.9% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally;
40.1% of all inmates in Arizona detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally;
48.2% of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally;
29% (630,000) convicted illegal alien felons fill our state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually;
More than 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages;
More than 53% of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens;
More than half of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens from south of the border;
More than 43% of all Food Stamps issued are to illegal aliens;
More than 41% of all unemployment checks issued in the United States are to illegal aliens;
58% of all Welfare payments in the United States are issued to illegal aliens;
Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties in the United States are illegal aliens;
14 out of 31 TV stations in L.A. are Spanish-only;
16 out of 28 TV stations in Phoenix are Spanish-only;
15 out of 24 TV stations in Albuquerque are Spanish-only;
21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish-only;
17 radio stations in Phoenix are Spanish-only;
17 radio stations in Albuquerque are Spanish-only;
More than 34% of Arizona students in grades 1-12 are illegal aliens;
More than 24% of Arizona students in grades 1-12 are non-English-speaking;
More than 39% of California students in grades 1-12 are illegal aliens;
More than 42% of California students in grades 1-12 are non-English-speaking;
In Los Angeles County, 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak Spanish;
More than 71% of all apprehended cars stolen in 2005 in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California were stolen by illegal aliens or transport "coyotes";
47% of cited/stopped drivers in California have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 47%, 92% are illegal aliens;
63% of cited/stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 63%, 97% are illegal aliens;
66% of cited/stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66%, 98% are illegal aliens;
Less than 2% of illegal aliens in the United States are picking crops , but 41% are on welfare;
Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration;
The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year, [Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University];
The estimated profit to U.S. corporations and businesses employing illegal aliens in 2005 was more than $2.36 TRILLION dollars;
The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican illegal alien is $55,000.00 cost to the American taxpayer in a 5-year span. You, personally, are giving $11,000 every year to illegal aliens.

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