Posted on 12/20/2005 5:33:14 PM PST by Icelander
MEXICO CITY - The Mexican government, angered by a U.S. proposal to extend a wall along the border to keep out migrants, pledged Tuesday to block the plan and organize an international campaign against it. Facing a growing tide of anti-immigrant sentiment north of the border, the Mexican government has taken out ads urging Mexican workers to denounce rights violations in the United States. It also is hiring an American public relations firm to improve its image and counter growing U.S. concerns about immigration.
Mexican President Vicente Fox denounced the U.S. measures, passed by the House of Representatives on Friday, as "shameful" and his foreign secretary, Luis Ernesto Derbez, echoed his complaints on Tuesday.
"Mexico is not going to bear, it is not going to permit, and it will not allow a stupid thing like this wall," Derbez said.
"What has to be done is to raise a storm of criticism, as is already happening, against this," he said, promising to turn the international community against the plan.
Some stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border are already marked by fences, but in some heavily-trafficked sections walls have already been erected by the United States, often using 10-foot-high sections of military surplus steel. Those sections, which typically run several miles, can be found in southern Arizona and California.
It's hard to underestimate the ill-feeling the proposal has generated in Mexico, where editorial pages are dominated by cartoons of Uncle Sam putting up walls bearing anti-Mexican messages.
Many Mexicans, especially those who have spent time working in the U.S., feel the proposal is a slap in the face to those who work hard and contribute to the U.S. economy.
Fernando Robledo, 42, of the western state of Zacatecas, says the proposals could stem migration and disrupt families by breaking cross- border ties.
"When people heard this, it worried everybody, because this will affect everybody in some way, and their families," Robledo said. "They were incredulous. How could they do this, propose something like this?"
Robledo, whose son and mother are U.S. citizens, predicted the measure "would unleash conflict within the United States" as small businesses fail for lack of workers.
He said many Mexicans felt betrayed by the anti-immigrant sentiment.
"We learned to believe in the United States. We have a binational life," he said of Zacatecas, a state that has been sending migrants north for more than a century. "It isn't just a feeling of rejection. It's against what we see as part of our life, our culture, our territory."
The government is scrambling to fight on two fronts. On Monday, it announced it had hired Allyn & Company, a Dallas-based public relations company to help improve Mexico's image and stem the immigration backlash.
"If people in the U.S. and Canada had an accurate view of the success of democracy, political stability and economic prosperity in Mexico, it would improve their views on specific bilateral issues like immigration and border security," Rob Allyn, president of the PR firm, told The Associated Press Tuesday.
Jose Luis Soberanes, head of the government's National Human Rights Commission, suggested Mexico go further.
"I would expect more energetic reactions from our authorities," Soberanes told local media. "It's preferable to have a more demanding government, more confrontation with the United States."
Mexico has also said it is recruiting U.S. church, community and business groups to oppose the proposal.
And the government has stepped up its defense of migrants, airing a series of radio spots here aimed at migrants returning home for the holidays.
"Had a labor accident in the United States? You have rights ... Call," reads the ad, sponsored by Mexico's Foreign Relations Department, which has helped migrants bring compensation suits in the United States.
The sense of dread connected with the measures is hardly restricted to Mexico. Immigrant advocacy and aid groups in the United States are worried about provisions of the House bill that upgrade unlawful presence in the United States from a civil offense to a felony.
"It would have a horrific impact on immigrants right organizing and immigrant communities" in the United States, said Jennifer Allen of the Tucson, Ariz.-based Red de Accion Fronteriza.
The mistaken belief that the proposals are a done deal _ they must still be submitted to the Senate _ have caused "just complete fear and shock" among some activists and immigrants, Allen said.
The House bill, passed on a 239-182 vote, includes a proposal to build 700 miles of additional fence through parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. It would also enlist military and local law enforcement to help stop illegal entrants and require employers to verify the legal status of their workers.
Mexicans are outraged by the proposed measures, especially the extension of the border wall, which many liken to the Berlin Wall. Some are urging their government to fight it fiercely.
"Our president should oppose that wall and make them stop it, at all costs," said Martin Vazquez, 26, at the Mexico City airport as he returned from his job as a hotel worker in Las Vegas. "More than just insulting, it's terrible."
"The Texans that made Fox president ..."
"A global star in political media, Allyn & Company has served more than 300 winning campaigns for heads of state, candidates, political parties and causes in the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean and Asia. President Vicente Fox of Mexico. Three Mexican Governors. Prime Minister Perry Christie of the Bahamas. Award-winning creative for Governor George W. Bush. Independent advocacy TV ads in support of President Bush in 2000. Victories for the Republican Party, U.S. Senate, Congress, mayors and statewide offices."
"At the forefront of issue advocacy at home and abroad, Allyn & Company helps shape public opinion to win successful results. Grassroots communication, issue advertising, media relations, coalition building, polling, focus groups and creative message strategy. Industry clients in real estate, sports, hotels, gaming, financial services, transportation, environmental matters, energy and consumer products. Non-profit causes from global democracy, health issues and financial literacy to Hispanic and cross-border issues. Global trade and international issues from Mexico and Latin America to Vietnam."
OHHH ... and don't dare miss the "news" section on the Allyn site ...
The following from one article titled "Mr. Mexico" that compares Fox to John Wayne ...:
"Rob Allyn will never forget the first time he met Vicente Fox Quesada. He was in Monterrey, Mexico with the Dallas Assembly in May 1997 when their group heard a speech by Fox, then a state governor. Allyn, who had never heard of Fox, expected little more than platitudes. Instead, a Mexican version of John Wayne rose to give an eloquent presentation, in English, about a country ruled by a corrupt, self-perpetuating regime; a crippled economy that forces millions of Mexicans to seek work in other countries; and a dysfunctional school system that fails to give children the tools they need to build better lives. The speaker laid out a vision of Mexico unchained from the PRI …"
Was getting all entertained by the "news". Was surprised the latest wasn't available.
"Red de Accion Fronteriza" roughly translates to Border Action Network (borderaction.org). The Border Action Network is in favor of illegal immigration.
More on Jennifer from Google.
Spiff or HiJinx, wasn't Jennifer shacking up with the police chief of Tucson?
I'll take two. Is there still time for delivery by Christmas?
Your plan gets my vote.
This article has me fuming.
Is it really? This is what you get when you don't enforce the law, use PC language like "undocumented workers" while calling the patriotic Minutemen vigilantes. It's not UFB when you propose guest worker programs and promise another country's citizens jobs in your country over Americans. When you promise invaders rights and privileges earned by legal immigrants, you can't act surprised when they make demands like this. Decades of pandering by both parties created this monster and now it's up to the citizens of America to send it home. So yeah let's send the monster home, and put up a fence to keep it there. Finally, let's send a message to the politicians that the days of pandering to illegals invaders are forever over!
No ... they will retaliate by cutting off the flow of pot, cocaine, and mephanphetamine. Then we will have a country full of crazed addicts suffering from the withdrawal DTs.
Then ask me if I care.
I have been and plan to continue being highly critical of President Bush's handling of our borders and illegal immigration.
But I will give him credit for getting something right this time. In his recent speech and in the more recent White House statement he supported (reluctantly) the House Bill that includes this fence.
That is a major improvement on his past statements where he has mainly talked about shamnesty and each time he has opened his mouth he has triggered yet her massive wave of illegal migration towards El Norte.
This time he got the message right. It was probably an accident but it was right nevertheless.
Mexico enforces their own borders--and they don't exactly turn out the welcome mat for immigrants. The US remains the most generous of any nation.
I like that.
"It also is hiring an American public relations firm to improve its image and counter growing U.S. concerns about immigration."
Let's find that PR firm, pants their guys and run 'em naked across the border.
But LA County, in one year alone, has been out hundreds of millions of dollars for providing treatment--just ER treatment--for illegal aliens.
Has the US government tried to get in contact with the real experts for border-protection? I mean the guys from Korea and former East Germany surely have some experience with that.... mines, automatically shooting-machines on the fence, etc come to my mind. Don´t let Mexico decide how you can protect your homeland!!
sw
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