Mexico Admits Poor Treatment of Migrants

[Desertdog]

Mexico Admits Poor Treatment of Migrants
Mexico Commission Acknowledges Poor Treatment of Migrants Within Its Own Territory
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1431252
By MARK STEVENSON
The Associated Press


MEXICO CITY - Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission acknowledged on Wednesday that the country uses some of the same methods in dealing with illegal migrants that it has criticized the United States for employing.

The admission comes as Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez called on Latin American countries to unite against a U.S. House of Representatives bill to toughen border enforcement.

The bill, which passed on Friday with a 239-182 vote, would make illegal entry a felony, and enlist military and local police to help stop illegal entrants.

But officials of Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission acknowledged that Mexico already employs both tactics in its own territory.

"As a matter of fact, (Mexico's) population law does include prison terms for illegally entering the country ... and this is something that has been the subject of constant complaints," said Mauricio Farah, a national inspector for the rights commission.

Jose Luis Soberanes, president of the rights commission, said that Mexico also uses many government agencies, such as the police and the military, to detain undocumented migrants, even though Mexican law technically doesn't allow that.

"One of the saddest national failings on immigration issues," Soberanes told a news conference, "is the contradiction in demanding that the North (the United States) respect migrants' rights, which we are not capable of guaranteeing in the South," along Mexico's border with Guatemala.

But Soberanes slammed another provision of the U.S. immigration bill that would build 700 miles of additional fences or walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, calling it "absurd."

The commission also acknowledged that Mexico mistreats many migrants mostly Central Americans who cross Mexico in a bid to reach the United States and called for improvement on that front.

The human rights commission also presented a report on Wednesday that found overcrowding and bad conditions at about three-quarters of Mexico's 51 immigration detention centers and 68 other holding facilities.

 

[fourays2]

nice hypocracy there, but it doesn't surprise me one bit. Someone needs to point out to the mexican people that their .gov is the reason that they are forced to come to el norte and that maybe they should just stay home and fix their own problems. someone should point it out to Jorge as well.

 

[armoredman]

Solve all problems - Iraquify Mexico.

 

[longeyes]

I'm still waiting for Bush to tell Fox and his cronies to stuff it. Mexico needs a real dressing-down, in public.

 

[QuickDraw]

Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission

Now THATS funny.

QuickDraw

 

[rick_reno]

I'm still waiting for Bush to tell Fox and his cronies to stuff it. Mexico needs a real dressing-down, in public.

Me, I'm waiting for the Easter Bunny to hop in and drop off some chocolate. I bet I'll wait less time than you.

 

[longeyes]

 

[CAnnoneer]

I'm still waiting for Bush to tell Fox and his cronies to stuff it. Mexico needs a real dressing-down, in public.

+1

So long as POTUS calls minutemen "vigilantes", we cannot expect anything good.

 

[MrTuffPaws]

This makes sense if you think about it. They are poor and pretty useless in Mexico. Practically a drain on the system. So it is not surprising that the Mexican government is pushing them over the boarder where they will find jobs and western union money back home to Mexico to strengthen the Mexican economy.

 

[liberty911]

I'm all for enforcement of immigration laws. That said, my unpopular position is to open up the borders between the USA and Mexico equally. Mexicans can buy land, work and travel freely in the USA and US Americans can buy land, work and travel freely in Mexico.

 

[Biker]

Last year immigrants, mostly illegal, sent 14-15 billion dollars home to Mexico (see the sites in my sig for confirmation). That makes illegal immigration Mexico's second biggest income behind oil.
It's not hard to figure out Vinny's motivations, or as Jorge Bush might say "It's not rocket surgery".
Biker

 

[longeyes]

Mexicans can buy land, work and travel freely in the USA and US Americans can buy land, work and travel freely in Mexico.

You ready to put 50 million Mexicans on the welfare rolls? So that rich American developers can create more condos for world's plutocrats along the Mexican coast?

 

[Biker]

You ready to put 50 million Mexicans on the welfare rolls? So that rich American developers can create more condos for world's plutocrats along the Mexican coast?

Don't you mean 50 million *more*? Just a bit of hyperbole, but not much.

Biker

 

[longeyes]

meanwhile, another Bush family friend pitches in for the Mexican cause

PR guru Allyn draws flak on Mexico

Right critical of his attempt to recast nation's image

11:59 PM CST on Thursday, December 22, 2005

By LAURENCE ILIFF / The Dallas Morning News

Rob Allyn
Rob Allyn

MEXICO CITY – Dallas public relations guru Rob Allyn barely had finalized a contract with the Mexican government to improve its image stateside when he found himself face to face in prime time with his clients' toughest critics.

They include Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, who predicted a long year and tough sell for Mr. Allyn, a longtime Bush family adviser who helped George W. Bush beat Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election.

Mr. Allyn, who kept his role in the 2000 presidential campaign of Vicente Fox a secret until Mr. Fox's victory, said Thursday that he's ready to defend Mexico as a reliable neighbor that does not deserve the new border fences that would come with an immigration bill now making its way through the U.S. Congress.

So far, Mr. Allyn said, his questioners have been fair-minded even in some rough venues. Of Mr. O'Reilly, who would like to see the U.S. military on the border to stem illegal immigration, Mr. Allyn said: "He was interested, he was listening."

Already, in just the few days since the one-year, $720,000 contract was announced by Mexico's Foreign Ministry, reactions to Mr. Allyn's role have been intense, divided and plentiful.
Also Online

Mexican-Americans feel slighted by Allyn hiring

"The phones have been ringing off the hook, and [there's] the hate e-mail," said Mr. Allyn. "We have a lot of people who question your patriotism."

On the flip side, he said, his office has received phone calls from business leaders, politicians and others from California to Texas to New York applauding his promotion of Mexico as a great business partner.

This latest assignment, Mr. Allyn said, is more than just another business contract.

"For me, on a personal level, this is a dream assignment," said Mr. Allyn, who heads Allyn & Co., which is owned by the Fleishman-Hillard public relations group. "I have gotten so tired of the way people treat Mexico. I believe in the cause, so I love the opportunity to share my views. I've held these views for a long time. I relish the opportunity to help in some small way."

Not a newcomer

Mr. Allyn said he has made more than 100 trips to Mexico over the last decade and knows what he's talking about. Since helping Mr. Fox become the first Mexican president from an opposition party in 71 years, Mr. Allyn has served as a political consultant to three gubernatorial candidates from Mr. Fox's National Action Party. All have won, he said.

Other clients of Mr. Allyn's Mexico-related consulting include American Airlines and Bank of America.

Under Mr. Fox, Mr. Allyn said, Mexico has become more democratic and less corrupt, and it is the United States' second-largest trade partner in the world. The U.S. sells $111 billion in goods to Mexico every year, he said. But many Americans don't know that. Yet.

"Periodically, in the U.S. and elsewhere, the pendulum swings ... in the way we view our neighbors," said Mr. Allyn. "I think it's all the more important to stay calm and do what's right when things turn hysterical."

"I believe when people understand how important business with Mexico is, the U.S., people in North America will want to build bridges to Mexico, not walls," he added. Mr. Allyn's contract also includes promoting Mexico in Canada.

A bill passed by the U.S. House last week would toughen penalties for undocumented workers and employers who hire them. It also would fund more walls along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

It does not include a provision, favored by President Bush, to expand a guest worker program to allow more Mexicans to work legally in the U.S.

Mr. Allyn said such a temporary-worker program would be a step toward making immigration "safe and legal and orderly and controlled." Immigrants are a valuable source of labor to the U.S., he added.

The bill will next be considered by the U.S. Senate.

In Mexico, the use of U.S. lobbying firms is not new. Former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari used them to help promote the North American Free Trade Agreement before it was ratified in the U.S. Congress in 1993.

A spokesman for Mr. Fox's office said the current president also has used U.S. public relations firms but not to the same extent as Mr. Salinas.

When Mr. Allyn served as an adviser to Mr. Fox in the 2000 presidential race, he kept his role secret because the use of foreign consultants in Mexico's domestic political campaigns still was controversial.

Mr. Fox, who cannot run for re-election, has been criticized by opposition politicians for spending taxpayer money to promote the president's image at home, through TV and radio spots and newspaper ads.

The practice, however, is legal, and nearly all local, state and federal agencies have budgets to promote their activities.

In Mexico, criticism of the possible crackdown on immigration by the U.S. has been harsh and nonstop for a week.

But Mexico also faces some criticism of its own, which Mr. Allyn may have to address down the road.

Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission acknowledged this week that in dealing with illegal migrants, the country uses some of the same methods it has criticized the United States for employing.

The admission comes as Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez called on Latin American countries to unite against the U.S. House bill to toughen border enforcement. The bill, which passed last Friday on a 239-182 vote, would enlist military and local police to help stop illegal entrants.

Shared tactics

But officials of Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission acknowledged that Mexico already employs both tactics in its own territory.

"As a matter of fact, [Mexico's] population law does include prison terms for illegally entering the country ... and this is something that has been the subject of constant complaints," said Mauricio Farah, a national inspector for the rights commission.

José Luis Soberanes, president of the rights commission, said Mexico also uses many government agencies, such as the police and the military, to detain undocumented migrants, even though Mexican law technically doesn't allow that.

"One of the saddest national failings on immigration issues," Mr. Soberanes told a news conference, "is the contradiction in demanding that the North [the U.S.] respect migrants' rights, which we are not capable of guaranteeing in the South," along Mexico's border with Guatemala.

E-mail [email protected]

 

[lawson]

i'm gonna put my .02 in, as i live in a border state and see it all firsthand.

first, let me say, i've worked in construction most of my life, and i worked alongside a lot of good, hardworking migrants who obeyed the laws and tried their best to learn the language. these types don't really bother me, but they're definitely not the majority here.

in the past two years, i've been involved in two car accidents involving illegal aliens, in both cases, the other driver was heavily intoxicated and definitely in the wrong. in both cases, the other driver abandoned the vehicle and ran off into the night, due to no insurance, no driver's liscence, and an unregistered vehicle. the second and most severe accident, in which the other driver ran a red light at 50 mph and t-boned my truck in the middle of the intersection, left me unhurt but with a completely wrecked truck. now i pay ungodly amounts of insurance each month for accidents that weren't my fault, and i had to buy a new car.

and if i even opened my mouth to complain among a lot of people, i got labeled a racist. how fair is that?

 

[rick_reno]

I live in a border state too - with Canada. I'm about 40 miles south of the border. I don't see the issues you're talking about here. I often wonder why.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I think Mexico is trying to be the East Germany of the western hemisphere.

 

[longeyes]

You mean they're hoping to be "re-united" with The Great White Father in Washington, D.C.?

 

[Standing Wolf]

You mean they're hoping to be "re-united" with The Great White Father in Washington, D.C.?

Well... perhaps in a sense, yes.

 

[longeyes]

I assumed you meant they were hoping to be taken in as the poor relative.

 

[CAnnoneer]

+1 lawson