http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/displ ... G0.9695246

26 July 2006

U.S., Mexico Working To Keep Border Secure, Open for Trade
State Department, Homeland Security officials testify on immigration issues



By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer


Washington -- The United States is working closely with Mexico to ensure maximum security on the joint border while providing for the free flow of trade, say U.S. officials from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

In prepared testimony July 26 for the House International Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, the State Department's Elizabeth Whitaker outlined programs the United States has in place with Mexico to enhance border security while making border transit "easier and quicker" for "legitimate travelers and goods."

Whitaker, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, said the U.S. trade relationship with Mexico – more than $270 billion per year, and second in size only to U.S. trade with Canada -- means that "we must continue to make those [border] crossings "even more swift and safe, and we are committed to doing even more to achieve that goal."

Regarding the rise of crime and violence in the border region, largely due to the activities of narco-trafficking organizations, Whitaker said the Mexican government has attacked this problem on its territory by sending in military and federal police forces to take temporary control over security.

The United States continues to strengthen and extend cross-border linkages among the law enforcement agencies on the border, "so that both sides are able to mount coordinated responses to breaking security events," she added.

Mexico has taken "its own measures to stem the flow of illegal immigrants on its southern border --- people clearly headed to the United States," Whitaker said. She said that in 2005, Mexico deported 235,000 people who had crossed its border illegally.

The United States, Whitaker said, has supported the Mexican government's efforts to control its southern border by establishing, training and equipping three specialized mobile interdiction teams, and providing three highly sophisticated mobile inspection vans that can inspect cargo vehicles for contraband and hidden passengers. In addition, the U.S. government has sponsored border safety training for Mexican officials in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.

"Such cooperation on so many fronts is critical on Mexico's southern border, which is remote, sparsely populated, and essentially porous," Whitaker said.

She said immigration is largely a domestic and not a foreign policy issue for the United States. But ultimately, she said, U.S. officials know that immigration from Mexico to the United States will not be reduced permanently until Mexico's economy is more "competitive and produces more good jobs," and until the Mexican government improves education and infrastructure in Mexico's poorer states.

The U.S. government believes "that the best way to reduce illegal migration is through economic development" in Mexico, Whitaker said.

Cresencio Arcos from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said international cooperation from Mexico, as well as Central and South America, is needed to uproot human trafficking and smuggling networks that bring illegal immigrants into the United States.

Arcos, the Homeland Security Department's assistant secretary for international affairs, told the subcommittee that Mexico has proven to be a "critical partner" with his agency in the last several years in helping to control illegal immigration.

In his prepared testimony, Arcos, a former State Department official, described a number of joint U.S. programs with Mexico and Canada to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States.

For example, Arcos said, the Security and Prosperity Partnership for North America -- involving the United States, Canada and Mexico -- is designed to keep U.S. borders closed to terrorists and open to trade. The partnership, unveiled in March 2005, includes the North American Competitiveness Council comprised of members of the three countries' private sectors who will meet on an ongoing basis with government officials to enhance competitiveness in the region while ensuring its security. (See related article.)

In addition, Arcos said the State Department is working on visa policy coordination with Canada and Mexico to implement policies and procedures that will lead to "comparable" decisions about travelers destined for North America. The end result of this coordinated work, said Arcos, will enable a traveler heading for a Canadian or Mexican port of entry to experience "substantially the same screening as a traveler bound for a U.S. port of entry."

Arcos said the United States has a number of programs in place with other countries in the Western Hemisphere to manage illegal migration in the region. For instance, the Regional Commission on Migration, launched in 1996, brings together migration and foreign policy officials from Central America, as well as Mexico and Canada, for a multilateral forum on common issues related to transnational migration, he said.

Arcos called on the U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation, which he said requires a combination of border law enforcement involving international partners, expanded enforcement against illegal immigrants within the United States and a temporary worker program. This reform package, he said, will help officials "deal with immigration issues on a regional basis within the Western Hemisphere."

The prepared testimonies of Whitaker and Arcos are available on the House Committee on International Relations Web site.

For additional information on U.S. policy, see Mexico and Immigration Reform.


(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)