http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/miami/17332.html

Mexico calls for migrant plan, not troops at border
Wire services
El Universal
Viernes 10 de marzo de 2006
Miami Herald, página 1

Mexico on Thursday called for immigration reform that was "orderly and respectful of human rights" after Arizona announced plans to expand the presence of the National Guard on the Mexico-U.S. border.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano issued an executive order on Wednesday expanding the number of National Guard troops operating on the border with Mexico to fight illegal immigration.

"They are there to provide support to civilian law enforcement at the border. They are not there to militarize the border. We are not at war with Mexico," Gov. Napolitano said in comments published on Thursday by the Arizona Republic.

Presidential spokesman Rubén Aguilar noted the governor´s statements about not wanting to "militarize" the border region with the state of Sonora, but he said his country´s government believed a deployment of troops would not solve the problem of unauthorized immigration.

"Militarization will not solve any problem," he said in a news conference. "We´re against it and reiterate that the issue can only be resolved within the framework of rules that permit migration that is legal, orderly and respectful of human rights."

Arizona´s Democratic governor declared a state of emergency last August in four counties on the border with Mexico, where crime linked to illegal immigration and drug trafficking was rampant.

The U.S. Senate began debate last week on immigration reform, with the Judiciary Committee that is charged with coming up with a bill deeply divided between those wanting to institute a guest worker program and others who insisted on increased punitive measures for illegal migrants.

Mexico and several other Latin American nations have adamantly rejected the idea of a high fence all along the border.