Posted on 03/20/2005 8:13:49 AM PST by hophead
MEXICO CITY - Anti-immigrant sentiment appears to be growing in the United States, Mexican President Vicente Fox said Wednesday, and he urged U.S. officials to act quickly to control movements such as the 950-member-strong Minuteman Project on the Mexico-Arizona border.
Fox said he plans to push for U.S. immigration reform during a meeting with President Bush in Texas next week. He also said the two leaders, along with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, likely will announce a plan to expand the scope of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Mexico's National Human Rights Commission recently issued a warning about several new grass-roots movements inspired by Arizona's Proposition 200. Other Mexican officials have cited the Minuteman Project, a plan by activists to patrol the border during April, as a sign of rising extremism. advertisement
"There are signs of these kinds of problems present today, and (they are) progressing," Fox said during a news conference for foreign reporters. "We have to act quickly and on time to prevent these kinds of actions."
He said Mexico is watching the Minuteman Project carefully and will take action in U.S. courts or international tribunals if any of the activists break the law.
Patrols start in April
"We totally reject the idea of these migrant-hunting groups," Fox said. "We will use the law, international law and even U.S. law to make sure that these types of groups, which are a minority . . . will not have any opportunity to progress."
Organizers of the Minuteman Project say they have signed up more than 950 volunteers, including 30 pilots with aircraft, to patrol the border for 30 days beginning April 1. The activists say they will notify the Border Patrol if they see border crossers and will not confront them directly.
Minuteman co-organizer Chris Simcox said participants are exercising their constitutional rights.
"Vicente Fox can rant and rave all he wants, but he obviously doesn't understand what a democracy means," Simcox said. "We have been working within the law."
'Walls don't work'
Fox also harshly criticized the construction of walls along the border, including a new "triple fence" planned for the San Diego area.
"We are convinced that walls don't work. They should be torn down," he said. "No country that is proud of itself should build walls. No one can isolate himself these days."
Fox said he understood Americans' concern about protecting their southern border. But he dismissed fears that terrorists have sneaked into the United States through Mexico. "We have absolutely no evidence of that," he said.
Fox will meet with Bush and Martin next Wednesday at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and at Bush's ranch in nearby Crawford. It's an effort to get North American cooperation back on track after the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Plan on Social Security
Fox said he will push for action on a "guest worker" program in the United States. He said that the U.S. population is aging and will need Mexican labor in the future and that turning millions of undocumented Mexicans into legal, taxpaying workers could help keep the Social Security system afloat.
The three leaders likely will announce a plan aimed at further integrating their countries' economies to compete against other trade blocs, Fox said. He called it a "new vision" that will not change the existing treaty.
It will include new border-security measures, ways to share customs duties, and a continentwide energy policy, he said. Other sections will focus on education, technology and the financial sectors, he said.
NAFTA's critics say the 1994 trade pact has cost American manufacturing jobs while hurting Mexican farmers. But Fox said the average Mexican income has more than doubled, to $6,505 a year.
Fox said the boom of assembly plants along the border has actually helped stop illegal border crossing by providing jobs for people who would have gone to the United States.
"That's also part of security on the border, to have this cushion where people can find a job on the Mexican side," he said.
Reach the reporter at chris.hawley@arizonarepublic.com.
Hey Travis,
I just got done watching the movie: "Man On Fire".
It's about the kidnappings that go on in Mexico. Many of which have govt. officials and police officers are involved in one way or another.
A very intense movie.
Have you seen it?
That's right. We need to watch extremists, and Fox is easy to see and hard to watch.
It's a new one with Denzel Washington, who plays a body guard for a wealthy business man's daughter.
Rent it, you may find it very helpful for your project.
BTW, thanks for the PDF email. I haven't finished it yet.
<< Just what we need, "ways to share customs duties"... with mexican police who are paid more by the drug cartels than they make working for the government. >>
Just like ours.
Just call me an extremist, bump
Now I remember it. It's the torture movie, if I recall correctly. You're right, I need to see it!
We call them "Pro-American patriots" here, Vinnie.
Bush needs to stop treating this idiot Fox like he's his best friend. He should get tough on Fox and illegal immigration. This has been Bush's weak spot and it's one of most important, if not the most important, issue facing this nation. Every American citizen needs to take action to stop this invasion because most of the people in our government don't want to do anything to stop it.
Meanwhile, Jim Gilchrist's (Minuteman founder) home was picketed yesterday with signs reading "Minuteman, a racist domestic terrorist" and "KKK supports Minuteman."
Today's OC Register article Border Watcher draws protest states about 50 protestors (many from UC Riverside) participated and plan to demonstrate again on Easter in front of the church where they believe in workships.
workships = worships
in workships = he worships
"Anti-immigrant sentiment appears to be growing in the United States, Mexican President Vicente Fox said Wednesday"
Well, at least one politician see that we are fed-up! But why can't it be one of our own?
“He said Mexico was watching the Minuteman Project carefully and would take action in U.S. courts or international tribunals if any of the activists break the law. “
Hahahahahha! He’s concerned about the law all of a sudden? Who exactly is breaking the law here? It couldn’t be the ILLEGAL immigrants, could it? Oh, the irony!!
Well put!
He's getting pushy because our own politicians have coddled him. Sickening, huh?
Keep talkin', Foxy. The more Fox shoots off his arrogant mouth, the more ticked off Americans will become, and the more they will unite to fight this invasion.
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