Mexico's Defense of Illegal Immigrants

Mexico is waging an aggressive diplomatic battle to protect its interests and the interests of its citizens who are working and residing illegally in the United States. While it is appropriate for a foreign government to protect the rights of its citizens abroad, it is not appropriate to encourage them or counsel them to violate the laws of the foreign government where their nationals are living, nor is it appropriate diplomacy to interfere in domestic policy making and implementation of a foreign government.

The appropriateness of the Mexican government's actions regarding the illegal immigration of Mexicans into the United States became a controversial issue in 2004 when it published a guide book in late 2004 for illegal border crossers1 that not just warned them about the dangers of crossing desert areas but also provided tips on how best to make the crossing. In addition it provided guidance on how to avoid coming to the attention of immigration authorities once the Mexican illegal alien was in the United States. Despite the controversy over this guide book, there was no apparent action by the U.S. government to protest this action.

The Mexican government has also established a network of local Mexican community advisors across the United States to interact with the Mexican government both through its consular representatives and directly with Mexico City2. It appears from press accounts that this arrangement is not simply a sounding board for the Mexican government to stay informed on local conditions, but rather a two-way communications channel for the Mexican government to provide policy advice to Mexican communities in the United States. In fact there are several U.S. domestic political issues in which the Mexican government is apparently attempting to mobilize Mexicans and Americans of Mexican ancestry to influence the national and local laws of the United States.

Besides the Mexican consular network of 55 consulates in 24 states plus Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., the Mexican government also works closely with established Mexican ethnic advocacy groups in this country such as the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, National Council of La Raza, League of United Latin American Citizens, etc.

Among the U.S. domestic issues on which the Mexican government is actively exerting influence outside of normal diplomatic channels both through its broad network of consular offices and through the new structure of overseas communities are the following:

Driver's licenses. Mexican consular officers and Mexican community activists have aggressively been lobbying state legislatures to adopt laws that allow illegal immigrants to obtain state driver's licenses. This effort has been successful in a number of states but met with a setback in 2005 when the REAL ID bill was adopted as part of the Iraq-Afghanistan Supplemental bill. This action led to Mexican President Fox's announcement on May 12, that his government would take unspecified actions to oppose the new U.S. law and his intemperate comment that "Mexican immigrants...are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States."

Mexican Consular IDs
— Matricula Consular. Shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and the government's heightened security concerns, the Mexican government began to aggressively seek recognition of identity cards issued to Mexicans residing in the United States by local governments. Because Mexicans who are legal immigrants already have identity documents such as the 'green card' and legal nonimmigrants have documents such as a Mexican passport and U.S. visa or U.S. Border Crossing Card, the object of this ID campaign clearly was to provide an identity document to Mexicans illegally residing in the United States. The campaign was not just to issue the matricula consular to these illegal aliens, but also to get those documents accepted by local governments for law enforcement purposes and provision of services.

The network of Mexican consular officials and local support groups has also aggressively lobbied state government to adopt laws that allow Mexican and other illegal aliens who have graduated from U.S. high schools to be able to benefit from the taxpayers' support of higher education by enrolling at in-state resident tuition rates.

FAIR has aggressively opposed those efforts of the Mexican government because they accommodate the presence of the illegal aliens, encourage their continued law breaking, and invite others to come illegally into our country. See FAIR press releases such as "Los Angeles City Council Should Reject Use Of Mexican Consular ID Cards."

Like the lack of any active effort of the federal government to enforce the nation's immigration law in the interior of the country, the federal government has also apparently chosen to turn a blind eye to this aggressive effort of the Mexican government to shape U.S. governmental policies to facilitate the status of Mexicans living here illegally.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez has threatened the U.S. government and individual U.S. citizens with various lawsuits. When Arizona citizens approved Proposition 200 in November 2004, restricting access to state benefits for illegal aliens, Derbez threatened to sue the State of Arizona in U.S. District Court, disregarding the necessary legal standing.

In March 2005, President Fox stated that the Minutemen project showed a disdain for the rule of law north of the border. Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) suggested that President Fox respect the right of the United States to defend its borders and refrain from interfering with U.S. sovereignty.

Perhaps emboldened by President Bush's reference to the Minutemen Project in Arizona in April 2005 as "vigilantes," Mexican President Fox criticized the citizen activism as demonstration of lack of respect for the law, and Mexican Foreign Minister Derbez threatened to bring criminal charges in the World Court against the Minutemen. This posturing elicited one of the few responses from Washington, although not from the administration. Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) commented that the Mexican government should respect the right of the United States to defend its borders and refrain from interfering with U.S. sovereignty.

Increasingly, the Mexican consular officials have become more actively outspoken on U.S. domestic issues that are not in accord with their campaign to protect Mexican illegal aliens from law enforcement activities. A case in point is the public condemnation by New York consul general Arturo Sarukhan who, according to press accounts3, in July 2005 publicly criticized Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy for actions that he said "had increased tensions in the community," by applying the communities housing laws against overcrowded housing to evict Mexicans who were living far in excess of legal levels in rented houses.

The absence of any response by the federal government to this pattern and recent instances of unacceptable intervention in U.S. domestic affairs, led FAIR to raise the issue with the U.S. Department of State. The text of a July 11 letter from FAIR President Dan Stein to Secretary of State Rice is below. As long as the Mexican government continues to pursue an agenda in the United States that is at odds with national interests, FAIR will continue to assert the need for the administration to defend those interests.

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The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
2201 C St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20520

We have watched with growing concern the developing pattern of involvement in domestic policies of the United States by representatives of the Mexican government with no public comment by the Executive Branch. These activities include efforts to persuade local governments to recognize the Mexican consular identity card as a valid identity document for local governmental purposes, to persuade state governments to issue driver's licenses to Mexican nationals who are in our country illegally and other activities, and most recently interference in enforcement of local housing laws.

These are actions which, if performed by a representative of the United States government in Mexico would be met with immediate official statements of disapproval as infringing on the sovereignty of the country.

I am convinced that a U.S. response to these provocative actions is overdue as demonstrated anew by the recent action of Mexican consul general Arturo Sarukhan as described in the enclosed news account in the July 6th edition of Newsday.

Madam Secretary, this latest incidence of Mexican interventionism in internal policy issues is an affront, and I implore you to take appropriate action to bring to the attention of the Mexican government that this unacceptable behavior will not be permitted. You should know that our 135,000 members and supporters throughout the country are incensed by the lack of Executive Branch action to rein in the activities of the Mexican government in our country. They will not be satisfied unless there is public evidence that their concern is being heeded.

Former Mexican Foreign Minister Demands Open Border for Migrants In Exchange for Cooperation on Security at Congressional Hearing

Members of U.S. Congress Offer No Reaction to Blackmail

Former Mexican Foreign Minister Demands Open Border for Migrants In Exchange for Cooperation on Security at Congressional Hearing Members of U.S. Congress Offer No Reaction to Blackmail On Tuesday, four days after the bombings on the London transit system refocused Congress and the American public on the threat of global terrorism, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that "No border security is possible without Mexican cooperation" and that "there can be no cooperation [from the Mexican government] without some sort of immigration reform package." Castaneda, now a professor at New York University, went on to describe immigration reform as amnesty for all Mexicans living illegally in the U.S., the admission of some 5 million additional Mexican citizens to the U.S. over the next ten years, and massive increases in U.S. aid to that country.

In exchange for the admission and legalization of millions of Mexicans, and billions of dollars in U.S. assistance, Castaneda said that Mexico would offer "tough" but "non-coercive" assistance in the effort to prevent terrorists from entering the U.S. via Mexico. Castaneda conceded that Mexico has lost control of its own southern border, and cannot verify the true identities of people to whom it has issued ID documents.

"Jorge Castaneda is not some obscure voice from Mexico's distant political past," observed Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "He served as foreign minister in the current Mexican administration. It is imperative that the Fox government issue a formal repudiation of Castaneda's remarks and assure the American public that their cooperation in the war against terrorism will not come at the price of extortion."

As disturbing as Castaneda's remarks were, the reaction of the senators to the extortion demands of a former top Mexican government official was even more disconcerting. Leading members of the Senate, including John McCain and Richard Lugar, seemingly accepted Castenada's demands for open borders as a legitimate price for even tepid Mexican cooperation in dealing with the terrorist threat.

"When anyone, much less a former foreign minister of a supposedly friendly nation, comes before a committee of the United States Senate, and issues ultimatums and thinly veiled threats against the United States, one would expect outrage and condemnation from members of Congress. Instead, we got meek acquiescence or deafening silence from the members who were present," said Stein. "If the government of Mexico is not prepared to join us in this struggle, without conditions, then they cannot claim to be an ally and our government must view them as such. Allies do not engage in extortion."

FAIR is calling upon the Bush Administration and Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice to formally protest Castaneda's demands with the Mexican government. "If Colin Powell were to make similarly outrageous demands in a foreign capital, we would expect a reply and repudiation from the American government. We should expect no less from the current government of Mexico," Stein said.

If we are to "have a nation", then the borders must be closed until this mess is sorted out. As it stands, anyone can come across and do. Our Sovereignty and our Constitution are at stake. Dr. Rice must act quickly before this escalates further. Call your Congressmen and Senators whether you live in a border state or not - McCain should have been on top of this from the get go and Rep Jim Kolbe ought to be fired, his non-assessment has made the problem worse and Janet Napolitano should be impeached for her total betrayal to Arizona citizens with her unlimited access for illegal Mexicans – an egregious dereliction of duty to her state and her nation.

I believe when dealt lemons, make lemonade. Think about this:

Mexico has a lot of natural resources and because Vincente doesn't seem to care about OUR illegals, why not make it a public policy that we will accept all of their citizens with the intent of owning Mexico. 150 million is the last I heard was their population. Make them temporary U.S. citizens with the full intent of owning Mexico. Recruit their doctors, nurses, soldiers, police, fire depts, and teachers who can teach English- double their pay and bring all of their families. Set up living zones where companies can set up businesses in the US instead of moving to Mexico.

One of two things will happen; either we own Mexico or Vincente shuts down his border. Win-win either way. Think of what we gain if we own Mexico: their workers pay into our Social Security at a beginning level, oil is plentiful, we get rid of a corrupt government, and we gain more room for vacation resorts.

We might offer to make Vincente Mayor of Catalina Island.

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