Mexico Detains 4 Iraqi Chaldeans With False Passports Near Guatemala

TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico (AP) -- Migration authorities said they detained four Iraqi nationals carrying fake passports and bound for the United States.

Three men and a woman were taken into custody Friday at a migration checkpoint in Tapachula, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) west of the Guatemala border, the National Immigration Institute said in a statement. Authorities did not reveal more details, citing national security. Thousands of undocumented migrants bound for the United States cross Mexico's porous southern border with Guatemala on a daily basis.

Most hail from Central and South America, although Iraqi Chaldean Christians frequently try to enter the U.S. through Mexico, claiming they face persecution in Iraq.

On Jan. 20, 11 Iraqi Christians were detained in the northern city of Monterrey en route to California, which has a sizable Chaldean community. The Immigration Institute later said it would not repatriate them.

http://www.aina.org/news/20070527220211.htm