Mexicans urged to respect America's right to protect its borders
Jan 14, 2006, 01:54 AM EST Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version


MEXICO CITY -- U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza on Friday asked Mexicans to respect America's right to protect its borders and said there has been widespread misinformation about a proposal to extend to border walls and tighten immigration enforcement.


In a five-page, more than 2,000-word newsletter released to coincide with the beginning of the new year, Garza wrote about House Bill 4437, which must still be considered by the U.S. Senate but would build 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) of additional fences along the U.S.-Mexico border while making illegal entry a felony and enlisting military and local police to help stop undocumented migrants.

"Some have said a border fence violates human rights and have even compared it to the Berlin Wall," Garza said. "Comparisons of proposals to alter our border policies to the Berlin Wall are not only disingenuous and intellectually dishonest, they are personally offensive to me.
"The Berlin Wall was built to keep people trapped inside, and was created by an oppressive authoritarian government," he said. "In stark contrast, our democratically elected government has proposed methods of protecting its own citizenry and enforcing our immigration laws."

The U.S. proposal has caused widespread resentment in Mexico, where some have accused President Vicente Fox's administration of not being assertive enough in opposing it. Fox has called the bill shameful.

Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said the proposal was "stupid and underhanded," but has since been more restrained in his criticisms, promising Mexico City will do everything it can to ensure the legislation is not approved by the Senate.

In the newsletter, Garza said the measure "is not an effort to 'close' the U.S. border. Neither is the bill just about fences."

"There is no human right to enter another country in violation of its laws," he said. "Every sovereign state has the right to control the entry of foreigners. Mexico too imposes immigration controls."

Garza irked many Mexican officials this summer when he ordered the U.S. Consulate in the border city of Nuevo Laredo temporarily closed and said he did so in part to punish Mexico for widespread violence there and elsewhere along the border.

The ambassador acknowledged in the newsletter that "we do not expect Mexico to endorse every security measure we take."

"But we do trust that our neighbors will respect our right to those measures on our own territory," he said, "and will understand the distinction we make between legal and illegal immigration."

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This kind of took me by surprise