http://english.people.com.cn/200610/07/ ... 09673.html

Mexican president says U.S. lacks vision on immigration



Mexican President Vicente Fox said on Friday that there was a lack of vision in the United States relating to immigration, following the U.S. legislature's decision to build a 1,200-km wall along its border with Mexico.

"There is a lack of vision of what this means, and of all that it can cause in both nations, and of the need we have to manage migration in a legal, orderly way that respects human rights," Fox told media in the central state of Aguascalientes.

U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday authorized the 1.2-billion-dollar project, which is aimed at boosting border security and preventing illegal immigration from Mexico.

On Thursday, Mexico's legislature, the Chamber of Deputies, urged Fox to go to international tribunals and bodies to try and halt the wall's construction.

Fox said immigration was a phenomenon which happened by itself, as there were jobs in the United States and also workers from Mexico seeking jobs, adding that the situation benefited both nations.

He said his government, which ends its tenure on Nov. 30, would make continuous efforts to make sure that moving to the United States was a voluntary choice, not one brought on by a lack of opportunities at home.

Despite all this, Fox said the Mexico-U.S. relationship was the right one based on what he called "deep associations, friendships, and work."

In the Brazilian capital of Brasilia, Mexico's visiting President-elect Felipe Calderon publicly thanked Latin American nations for their verbal opposition to the wall, passed last week by the U.S. legislature.

"This wall divides nations, families, the history (of) a people and will not be the (measure) to solve the immigration problem. I am grateful for the solidarity I have received in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and the Central American nations, " he said.

Meanwhile, in Mexico City, non-governmental organization activists announced a forum on the wall, to be called the Social Border Forum, which will run from Oct. 12 to Oct. 15 in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, and will gather some 700 delegates from Mexico, Canada and the United States.