Thread: Mexico admits poor treatment of migrants

http://www.mercurynews.com

Posted on Wed, Dec. 21, 2005

Mexico admits poor treatment of migrants

MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission acknowledged on Wednesday that the country uses some of the same methods in dealing with illegal migrants that it has criticized the United States for employing.

The admission comes as Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez called on Latin American countries to unite against a U.S. House of Representatives bill to toughen border enforcement.

The bill, which passed on Friday with a 239-182 vote, would make illegal entry a felony, and enlist military and local police to help stop illegal entrants.

But officials of Mexico's federal Human Rights Commission acknowledged that Mexico already employs both tactics in its own territory.

"As a matter of fact, (Mexico's) population law does include prison terms for illegally entering the country ... and this is something that has been the subject of constant complaints," said Mauricio Farah, a national inspector for the rights commission.

Jose Luis Soberanes, president of the rights commission, said that Mexico also uses many government agencies, such as the police and the military, to detain undocumented migrants, even though Mexican law technically doesn't allow that.

"One of the saddest national failings on immigration issues," Soberanes told a news conference, "is the contradiction in demanding that the North (the United States) respect migrants' rights, which we are not capable of guaranteeing in the South," along Mexico's border with Guatemala.

But Soberanes slammed another provision of the U.S. immigration bill that would build 700 miles of additional fences or walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, calling it "absurd."

Derbez said in a news conference that Mexico has asked several governments in the region to denounce the fence proposal.

Many Mexicans, especially those who have worked in the United States, feel the proposal is a slap in the face to those who contribute to the U.S. economy.

Amnesty International's Mexico office said earlier in statement that a border wall would be "a historic setback for human rights" and "will multiply the loss of life" by making border crossings more dangerous.

The commission also acknowledged that Mexico mistreats many migrants - mostly Central Americans who cross Mexico in a bid to reach the United States - and called for improvement on that front.

The human rights commission also presented a report on Wednesday that found overcrowding and bad conditions at about three-quarters of Mexico's 51 immigration detention centers and 68 other holding facilities.

Seems like I aready read this very same article earlier this morning.