🚀 go-pugleaf

"Don Gabacho" <jpastore@nettaxi.com> wrote in message
news:1121743363.768802.47870@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Mexico's Defense of Illegal Immigrants
>
> Mexico is waging an aggressive diplomatic battle to protect its
> interests and the interests of its citizens who are working and
> residing illegally in the United States. While it is appropriate for a
> foreign government to protect the rights of its citizens abroad, it is
> not appropriate to encourage them or counsel them to violate the laws
> of the foreign government where their nationals are living, nor is it
> appropriate diplomacy to interfere in domestic policy making and
> implementation of a foreign government.
>
> The appropriateness of the Mexican government's actions regarding the
> illegal immigration of Mexicans into the United States became a
> controversial issue in 2004 when it published a guide book in late 2004
> for illegal border crossers1 that not just warned them about the
> dangers of crossing desert areas but also provided tips on how best to
> make the crossing. In addition it provided guidance on how to avoid
> coming to the attention of immigration authorities once the Mexican
> illegal alien was in the United States. Despite the controversy over
> this guide book, there was no apparent action by the U.S. government to
> protest this action.
>
> The Mexican government has also established a network of local Mexican
> community advisors across the United States to interact with the
> Mexican government both through its consular representatives and
> directly with Mexico City2. It appears from press accounts that this
> arrangement is not simply a sounding board for the Mexican government
> to stay informed on local conditions, but rather a two-way
> communications channel for the Mexican government to provide policy
> advice to Mexican communities in the United States. In fact there are
> several U.S. domestic political issues in which the Mexican government
> is apparently attempting to mobilize Mexicans and Americans of Mexican
> ancestry to influence the national and local laws of the United States.
>
>
> Besides the Mexican consular network of 55 consulates in 24 states plus
> Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., the Mexican government also works
> closely with established Mexican ethnic advocacy groups in this country
> such as the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, National Council of La
> Raza, League of United Latin American Citizens, etc.
>
> The Mexican Agenda
> Among the U.S. domestic issues on which the Mexican government is
> actively exerting influence outside of normal diplomatic channels both
> through its broad network of consular offices and through the new
> structure of overseas communities are the following:
>
> Driver's licenses. Mexican consular officers and Mexican community
> activists have aggressively been lobbying state legislatures to adopt
> laws that allow illegal immigrants to obtain state driver's licenses.
> This effort has been successful in a number of states but met with a
> setback in 2005 when the REAL ID bill was adopted as part of the
> Iraq-Afghanistan Supplemental bill. This action led to Mexican
> President Fox's announcement on May 12, that his government would take
> unspecified actions to oppose the new U.S. law and his intemperate
> comment that "Mexican immigrants...are doing jobs that not even blacks
> want to do there in the United States."
> Mexican Consular IDs - Matricula Consular. Shortly after the
> September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and the
> government's heightened security concerns, the Mexican government began
> to aggressively seek recognition of identity cards issued to Mexicans
> residing in the United States by local governments. Because Mexicans
> who are legal immigrants already have identity documents such as the
> 'green card' and legal nonimmigrants have documents such as a Mexican
> passport and U.S. visa or U.S. Border Crossing Card, the object of this
> ID campaign clearly was to provide an identity document to Mexicans
> illegally residing in the United States. The campaign was not just to
> issue the matricula consular to these illegal aliens, but also to get
> those documents accepted by local governments for law enforcement
> purposes and provision of services.
> In-State Tuition.The network of Mexican consular officials and local
> support groups has also aggressively lobbied state government to adopt
> laws that allow Mexican and other illegal aliens who have graduated
> from U.S. high schools to be able to benefit from the taxpayers'
> support of higher education by enrolling at in-state resident tuition
> rates.
> FAIR has aggressively opposed those efforts of the Mexican government
> because they accommodate the presence of the illegal aliens, encourage
> their continued law breaking, and invite others to come illegally into
> our country. See FAIR press releases such as "Los Angeles City Council
> Should Reject Use Of Mexican Consular ID Cards."
>
> Lack of U.S. Government Response
> Like the lack of any active effort of the federal government to enforce
> the nation's immigration law in the interior of the country, the
> federal government has also apparently chosen to turn a blind eye to
> this aggressive effort of the Mexican government to shape U.S.
> governmental policies to facilitate the status of Mexicans living here
> illegally.
>
> Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez has threatened the U.S.
> government and individual U.S. citizens with various lawsuits. When
> Arizona citizens approved Proposition 200 in November 2004, restricting
> access to state benefits for illegal aliens, Derbez threatened to sue
> the State of Arizona in U.S. District Court, disregarding the necessary
> legal standing.
>
> In March 2005, President Fox stated that the Minutemen project showed a
> disdain for the rule of law north of the border. Senator John Kyl
> (R-AZ) suggested that President Fox respect the right of the United
> States to defend its borders and refrain from interfering with U.S.
> sovereignty.
>
> Perhaps emboldened by President Bush's reference to the Minutemen
> Project in Arizona in April 2005 as "vigilantes," Mexican President Fox
> criticized the citizen activism as demonstration of lack of respect for
> the law, and Mexican Foreign Minister Derbez threatened to bring
> criminal charges in the World Court against the Minutemen. This
> posturing elicited one of the few responses from Washington, although
> not from the administration. Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) commented that the
> Mexican government should respect the right of the United States to
> defend its borders and refrain from interfering with U.S. sovereignty.
>
> Increasingly, the Mexican consular officials have become more actively
> outspoken on U.S. domestic issues that are not in accord with their
> campaign to protect Mexican illegal aliens from law enforcement
> activities. A case in point is the public condemnation by New York
> consul general Arturo Sarukhan who, according to press accounts3, in
> July 2005 publicly criticized Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy for
> actions that he said "had increased tensions in the community," by
> applying the communities housing laws against overcrowded housing to
> evict Mexicans who were living far in excess of legal levels in rented
> houses.
>
> The absence of any response by the federal government to this pattern
> and recent instances of unacceptable intervention in U.S. domestic
> affairs, led FAIR to raise the issue with the U.S. Department of State.
> The text of a July 11 letter from FAIR President Dan Stein to Secretary
> of State Rice is below. As long as the Mexican government continues to
> pursue an agenda in the United States that is at odds with national
> interests, FAIR will continue to assert the need for the administration
> to defend those interests.
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
>
> FAIR July 11, 2005 Letter to Secretary of State Rice
> The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
> Secretary of State
> 2201 C St. N.W.
> Washington, DC 20520
>
> Dear Madam Secretary,
>
> We have watched with growing concern the developing pattern of
> involvement in domestic policies of the United States by
> representatives of the Mexican government with no public comment by the
> Executive Branch. These activities include efforts to persuade local
> governments to recognize the Mexican consular identity card as a valid
> identity document for local governmental purposes, to persuade state
> governments to issue driver's licenses to Mexican nationals who are in
> our country illegally and other activities, and most recently
> interference in enforcement of local housing laws.
>
> These are actions which, if performed by a representative of the United
> States government in Mexico would be met with immediate official
> statements of disapproval as infringing on the sovereignty of the
> country.
>
> I am convinced that a U.S. response to these provocative actions is
> overdue as demonstrated anew by the recent action of Mexican consul
> general Arturo Sarukhan as described in the enclosed news account in
> the July 6th edition of Newsday.
>
> Madam Secretary, this latest incidence of Mexican interventionism in
> internal policy issues is an affront, and I implore you to take
> appropriate action to bring to the attention of the Mexican government
> that this unacceptable behavior will not be permitted. You should know
> that our 135,000 members and supporters throughout the country are
> incensed by the lack of Executive Branch action to rein in the
> activities of the Mexican government in our country. They will not be
> satisfied unless there is public evidence that their concern is being
> heeded.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Dan Stein
> President
>