Arizona Border Fence Halted(concrete achievments of collaboration between Az & Mexico)

Quepasa.com via frontpagemagazine.com ^ | 10-28-03 | Juanita Dórame Morales

[Klickitat]

Concrete achievements of collaboration between Arizona and Sonora, Mexico

Por Juanita Dórame Morales QUEPASA.COM

Jose Santos Gutierrez. QUEPASA.COM Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., October 28, 2003 (quepasa.com) - Thanks to intervention on the part of the government of the state of Arizona, the United States halted the construction of a double security wall on the border with Sonora, as a sign of what can be achieved by means of bilateral collaboration on matters that affect both sides.

Vice-president of the Sonora-Arizona Commission, José Santos Gutiérrez Luken informed that this is one of the main concrete achievements derived from joint efforts carried out by the governments of Sonora and Arizona, whose governor, Janet Napolitano, has stated opposition to such drastic measures to deter undocumented immigrants from crossing into Union territory.

Within the framework of the Inter-plenary Session of the Arizona-Mexico, and Sonora,-Arizona commissions held in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Gutiérrez Luken explained that the fact that construction of the double border security wall was stopped obeys to negotiations carried out before the United States government after the Plenary Session celebrated in June of this year by both organisms.

About the Inter-plenary session, he further explained that it is a margin within which to gauge advance reached on matters common to both states, such as migration, education, publish health, transportation and business issues, among many others of equal importance, besides that, to plan the agenda for the plenary session to be held in Hermosillo, Sonora from the 20 to the 22 this November.

Precisely, he continued, in the case of immigration, issuing visas as well as authorizing temporary permits to cross into the United States has become more complicated, since the establishment of the Department of National Security, therefore, work is being done to make these procedures easier in special cases, such as academic exchanges for example.

Gutiérrez Luken specified that between Arizona and Sonora an existing program called Hands Across the Border has, for about 20 years, organized exchanges between children and teenagers making it possible for them to spend time with a family in Sonora as well as in Arizona.

Nevertheless, these last few months it has been difficult for this program to be kept in effect due to reasons of national security for the United States, yet the finality of both commissions is to facilitate border crossing, so that the linkups between the two cultures can be strengthened.

Another issue being analyzed is the impact Mexican exports - particularly those from Sonora - will suffer once the Bioterrorism Law is put into effect by the United States, which is why the business, agriculture and transportation subcommittees are already working on setting up the agenda on this topic.

Likewise, he informed that there is real interest on the part of both governors, Janet Napolitano in Arizona and Eduardo R. Bours Castelo in Sonora, to reach agreements such as one for both states to be promoted internationally as one tourist region, in order to attract visitors from this continent as well as from Europe and other parts of the world. QUEPASA.COM

Translator M. B. Durazo

[_Jim]

The direct quote (taken out )

We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective -- a new world order -- can emerge: a new era -- freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace.

From: www.sweetliberty.org/issues/war/bushsr.htm from the National Archives, September 11, 1990, from an address by President George Herbert Walker Bush before a joint session of Congress, regarding the Persian Gulf War.