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Mexico, the meddling neighbor
By Heather Mac Donald
HEATHER MAC DONALD is a contributing editor for City Journal, from whose autumn issue this is adapted.

November 8, 2005

DIPLOMACY MAY BE the art of lying for one's country, but Mexican diplomacy requires taking that art to virtuosic heights. Sitting in his expansive office in Mexico's Los Angeles consulate, Deputy Consul General Mario Velázquez-Suárez insists that he and his peers do not interfere in U.S. internal affairs, including immigration matters. "Immigration is an internal discussion," he says.

But it's not quite true. Mexican officials here and abroad interfere almost daily in U.S. sovereignty.

The meddling starts with Mexico's comic book-style guide to breaching the border safely and evading detection once across. The Foreign Ministry distributes this "GuÃÂ*a del Migrante Mexicano" ("Guide for the Mexican Migrant") in Mexico; consulates along the border hand it out in the United States.

The guide does briefly remind readers that "mechanisms for legal entry" into the U.S. exist and are the surest way to get in. But the book primarily consists of "practical advice" for entering illegally: Cross when the heat is lowest; don't wear heavy clothing when fording a river; do keep your coyote in sight; don't send your children across the border with strangers.

The guide's recommendations on how to avoid detection once here are equally no-nonsense: Do keep your daily routines stable, to avoid calling attention to yourself; don't engage in domestic violence â€â€