http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impr ... abla=miami

Gov't asked to fight deportations

Wire services
May 24, 2005

Mexican migrants from the Chicago area asked the Mexican government Monday to help them reunite families separated by deportations, arguing that new U.S. immigration and terrorism laws are being applied unfairly to hardworking people.

The group met with a representative of President Vicente Fox's administration and Mexico City Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador and asked both to send the U.S. President George W. Bush letters requesting pardons for some 60 people who have been deported recently, often separating husbands from wives and children from their parents.

The group said López Obrador told them he would give them a letter. Deputy Foreign Relations Secretary Gerónimo Gutiérrez promised the support of the Mexican government, although it wasn't clear if that included the letter, a spokesman for the Foreign Relations Department said on condition of anonymity.

The migrant group urged the Mexican government to hire lawyers for the pending cases the majority from the Chicago area and they accused Fox of not fulfilling promises to help migrants living in the United States.

Fox "should and he needs to speak with more authority," said Emma Lozano, president of the nonprofit organization Pueblo Sin Fronteras.

The group of about a dozen deported migrants and activists said new U.S. immigration and anti-terrorism policies were being used to deport people seeking citizenship.

"They treat us like animals for violating immigration laws," said MarÃÂ*a GarcÃÂ*a, the founder of a nonprofit group for female migrants in Chicago. "We aren't criminals. We are workers."

During her emotional appeal, Lozano broke into tears describing the case of one migrant who burned off his fingerprints to avoid deportation.

Romina Perea, a mother of two young children, described being handcuffed, jailed and deported to Mexico more than two months ago even though her husband and children were all U.S. citizens.

The group planned to meet with officials of the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday.