Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico, a country which more and more finds itself being victimized by illegal immigrations, is in the process of setting up its own Border Patrol Agency, according to news reports.

US Rep Henry Cuellar, who is working with the Mexican government in the effort, says that it is a sign of the reality now facing Mexico.

"For years, Mexico relied on emigration to deal with a demographic imbalance caused by the 'Mexican Baby Boom' of the sixties and seventies," the Democrat from Larado, Texas said. "But now that Mexico's birth rate has stabilized, and it's economy is improving, Mexico more and more finds itself victimized by illegal immigrants, both those who want to remain in Mexico, and those who transit through Mexico en route to the US."

"A lot of people coming in to the US these days are not Mexicans, they are from Central America and South America," Cuellar said. "On Mexico's border with Guatemala it is like a UN in many ways."

US Border Patrol reports confirm that in the past year the patterns of illegal immigration into the United States have changed dramatically, with people known as OTMs, or "Other Than Mexicans," who used to make up a small fraction of illegal entrants, now making up more than half of their total number.

Cuellar says plans are for Mexico to deploy it's new Border Patrol on its northern border as well. It would interdict cash and weapons flowing from the US bound for the drug cartels, and would also help stop people trying to sneak from Mexico into the US.

"If we coordinate with them, I think we will do a much better job of securing our common border so drugs and undocumented immigrants don't pass into the United States," he said.

Cuellar says Mexico has generally relied on its army to provide security on it's southern border, with mixed results. Mexico has seldom had a major presence on it's border with the United States.

He hopes the US will help fund the creation of the Mexican Border Patrol, because having a robust force would be in the best interests of both countries.