Thread: FEWER MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS TREK TO U.S.

FROM NUMBERSUSA!!!

Fewer Mexican immigrants trek to U.S.
ASSOCIATED PRESS : June 13 , 2006 -- by OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ

"Francisco Loureiro, who runs an immigrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, across the border from Arizona, said immigrants are afraid of the U.S. troops after hearing reports of abuse in Iraq..." SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Mexico -- Fewer Mexican immigrants are trying to illegally enter the United States this month, officials and activists said, as U.S. National Guard troops began arriving along the border in Arizona.

U.S. authorities said Monday that detentions along the U.S.-Mexico border decreased 21%, to 26,994, in the first 10 days of June, compared with 34,077 for the period a year ago. Along Arizona's border, once the busiest area, detentions dropped 23%, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

The 55 soldiers who arrived June 3 are the first of about 6,000 troops to be dispatched along the 2,000-mile border as part of a plan to stem illegal immigration to the United States.

The soldiers aren't allowed to detain immigrants and have been limited to projects such as extending border fences, but their presence is keeping would-be crossers away, immigrant-rights activists said.

Francisco Loureiro, who runs an immigrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, across the border from Arizona, said immigrants are afraid of the U.S. troops after hearing reports of abuse in Iraq.

"Some migrants have told me they heard about the troops on television, and, because the U.S. Army doesn't have a very good reputation, they prefer not to cross," Loureiro said. Others have been discouraged by smugglers' fees that have nearly doubled to more than $3,000.

Jorge Vazquez, coordinator for Mexico's Grupo Beta immigrant aid agency in San Luis Rio Colorado, across from San Luis, Ariz., said that before the troops arrived, his agents encountered at least two dozen immigrants daily, most waiting for nightfall to begin their trek.

"There have been days ... when we've found only three migrants," Vazquez said.

Some immigrants may be moving to the California-Mexico border, where detentions were up 7% to 5,965 in the first 10 days of June, compared with the same period a year ago.

The National Guard plan has been criticized in Mexico as heavy-handed.

The Mexican government has said it will watch to ensure troops aren't detaining immigrants.

Some migrants have told me they heard about the troops on television, and, because the U.S. Army doesn't have a very good reputation, they prefer not to cross," Loureiro said. Others have been discouraged by smugglers' fees that have nearly doubled to more than $3,000.

Good!!! Now just to keep the cell phones off so somebody doesn't call them and tell them it's just a political ploy.

I find it ludicrous that the Mexican government is going to make sure our troops don't detain their illegal scumbag citizens....what right does the Mexican government have to mandate hour we run things within our border? Just look at the hypocritical way they function within their corrupt wasteland!!!!!

I am sure El Bushero has been talking to his brother Fox on the taco line trying to calm him down by saying the troops are there as a political ploy. He probably told Fox their Latino brothers and sisters can cross the border at will with no concerns.

According to a news report this morning, the Guard isn't worrying the Mexicans as they're FLOODING NEW MEXICO.

Could this be disinformation? I think it is.

It doesn't matter if they continue to come here because we can [mod edit] them over on their bicycles and use them as chum on fishing boats at the Jersey shore.