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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2006 
Government Weighs in on Immigration Debate in U.S.
 Wire services/El Universal
| | Immigrants rights advocates holding posters and flags from the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, rally in front of the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J., Monday, March 20, 2006, in opposition to an immmigration reform bill that's before the U.S. Senate. The protesters called for immigration reform that would offer a path to citizenship for the estimated 360,000 undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. (AP/Mel Evans) |
Worried by the sometimes harsh tone of the immigration debate unfolding in the United States, the Mexican government on Monday took its message directly to the American public: As your neighbor, we want to work with you to fashion a solution.
In full-page ads in The New York Times, Washington Post and other newspapers, the Mexican government acknowledged a shared responsibility to address illegal immigration and to stem its citizens´ northward exodus by creating more jobs at home.
While continuing to press for a guest worker program that would confer legal work status on millions of Mexicans living illegally in the United States - a long-held goal for President Vicente Fox - Mexico is now outlining its responsibilities. Among them: enforcing its own migration laws; combating human smuggling and criminal networks; securing its southern border; and promoting the return of Mexican emigres.
For its part, the ad says, the U.S. should allow Mexico to participate in the "design, management, supervision and evaluation" of a guest worker program that should cover "the largest possible number of workers and their families" currently in the U.S. illegally.
The ad campaign, designed by Dallas-based Allyn & Co., reflects a migration resolution approved in February by the Mexican Congress.
"We thought it was about time to have the American people looking firsthand at what´s our position on these issues that are so sensitive and important for both countries," Mexican Ambassador Carlos de Icaza said in an interview Monday.
"Our message to the American people is that we are your neighbors, we are your friends, this is a common challenge, and we are part of the solution, not only part of the problem," de Icaza said.
The public relations effort comes as Congress is grappling with the question of how to treat the 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States - more than half of them Mexican.
While some lawmakers favor giving illegal immigrants work permits and placing them on a path to eventual citizenship, others are pressing for heightened immigration enforcement that would pressure many unauthorized workers to leave the country.
The Senate Judiciary Committee appears poised next week to approve a guest worker program - setting senators on a collision course with the House, which in December approved a tough enforcement-only approach that was silent on President Bush´s call for a temporary worker program. With a wide philosophical chasm between the chambers and within the Republican Party, the chances of an immigration accord this year are slim, many experts say.
The Mexican ambassador voiced some concern with the tone of the immigration debate, which has proved a hot topic on talk radio, cable TV news shows and in public forums.
"It´s a very emotional debate. And sometimes the debate is encouraging, but on other times, it´s discouraging," de Icaza said. "So we thought it was about time to directly make known which is our position in black and white, written on paper." |
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