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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | January 2005 
How To Flee Mexico In Comic-Book Color
 The Sydney Morning Herald
 Mexico has defended a government comic book showing illegal migrants how to cross the border and live quietly in the United States against charges that it promotes undocumented immigration.
Monterrey - The 32-page color primer, published by Mexico's Foreign Ministry in December, gives would-be migrants tips such as how to swim across the Rio Grande and avoid dehydration in the desert. It also sets out their legal rights on detention. Some American groups and newspaper editorial writers have slammed the booklet as a "how-to" manual for the million or more Mexicans who attempt the illegal crossing each year. "It's reminiscent of the instructions to al-Qaeda operatives to help their terrorists keep a low profile in safe houses in Britain," Ric Oltman, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said.
But Mexico's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the booklet was an attempt to save lives and inform migrants of the legal consequences of entering the United States. "Last year over 300 Mexicans died in their attempt to enter the United States in search of a job, and the Government has the obligation to avoid that," Geronimo Gutierrez, the ministry's undersecretary for North American affairs, said. "The guide clearly states that the safe and appropriate way to enter any country is with a valid passport and a visa, and in no way promotes undocumented immigration," he added. The official said about 1.5 million copies of the pamphlet had been distributed to several states in central Mexico that have high migration rates.
The booklet urges migrants to wear light clothing to make their swim across rivers easier and suggests they add salt to water to avoid dehydration while crossing the deserts that form much of the 3200-kilometre frontier. It also informs migrants of their rights to medical and consular attention if they are detained by US officials. Using graphic sequences depicting baseball-cap wearing family members, it counsels Mexicans who succeed in reaching the United States to avoid bar brawls, drunken driving and domestic violence.
Mr Gutierrez said the guide set out "the rights that any Mexican has regardless of their migratory status, based on United States and international law". |
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