Border crisis confounds US, Mexico
The declaration of states of emergency in New Mexico and Arizona over growing cross-border smuggling and violence is only the tip of the iceberg. And there doesn`t seem to be anything effective Washington and Mexico City can do to reverse it.
Critics of Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona charge that they declared states of emergency in their Southwestern states as a cynical political ploy aimed at strengthening their Democratic Party`s prospects for the next congressional and presidential elections, and furthering their own standings within it.
It is certainly the case that Richardson and Napolitano angrily accused the national governments in Washington and Mexico City of not taking the crisis sufficiently seriously. “Both federal governments let us down – there doesn`t seem to be any sense urgency,” Napolitano told the New York Times in comments published Wednesday.
Also, in the short term, the declarations look unlikely to make any serious inroads in the problem. Nevertheless, the crisis that Richardson and Napolitano drew attention to is all too real. And what they have already succeeded in doing is getting it on to the attention screen of the national media.
More: news.monstersandcritics.com
'Made in Mexico' uniforms miff border cops
The labels inside the U.S. Border Patrol uniforms have been making many federal agents feel uneasy. It's not the fit or feel of the olive-green shirts and pants, but what their labels read: "Made in Mexico."
"It's embarrassing to be protecting the U.S.-Mexico border and be wearing a uniform made in Mexico," says T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a 6,500-member union.
Agents and lawmakers are concerned about the consequences if the uniforms for agents charged with combating illegal immigration fall into the hands of criminals or terrorists.
"If we're manufacturing uniforms in
Hillary wants to build a U.S.-Mexico fence first — and shes right
Apart from a well-chosen warning about criminalizing Jesus, Sen. Hillary Clinton hasnt waded too deeply into the details of the immigration mess. Until now.
In an interview Friday, she cited specific goals that could, and hopefully will, become the heart of bipartisan legislation that might actually fix this national crisis. A fence or a wall? Shes for it.
A two-step process, where our borders are secured before the 11 million illegal immigrants already here begin to get legalized? Shes for that, too.
The sudden crackdown by Washington on employers
Mexico wary of rights violations on U.S. border
Mexico says it will be keeping an eye out for human rights violations after Texas Gov. Rick Perry pledged $9.7 million to step up security along the Mexico-Texas border.
In a statement sent out late Wednesday, Mexico said it understood that the fight against crime and violence along the border must be fought on both sides.
But the statement also called on the United States to allow more legal migration and respect the rights of Mexicans north of the border.
"Without a doubt, the security of both countries, especially along the border, would benefit from the
Record deaths on US-Mexico border
A record number of illegal migrants have died while trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, say US customs officers.
At least 464 had died in the past year to 30 September, they said. The figure is a 43% increase on the previous year.
High temperatures in June and July caused many deaths, but others were due to car accidents or drowning.
A more accurate reporting procedure in the Arizona area was another factor in the rise.
According to the Reuters news agency, border patrols also conducted a record number of 2,570
Mexico, US governors pledge to strengthen co-op in border security
Governors of border states between Mexico and the United States reached agreements on further cooperation in border security and migrants on Friday, pledging toask their federal governments to declare the 3,200-km border a "strategic zone" for security.
The governors made the remarks at a joint statement signed after concluding a two-day conference in Mexico's Torreon, 807 km northwest of Mexico City.
They agreed that the establishment of a strategic zone between the two countries would bring more federal funds to the border region
Mexico rejects US border fences
Mexico says it opposes a US plan to build more fences along the border in order to control illegal immigration.
Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said his country "does not believe physical barriers are the solution".
President George W Bush announced the construction of more fences in the 3,200km (2,000 miles) border while touring US states earlier this week.
About 10 million Mexicans live in the United States and more than four million are said to stay illegally.
More than a million are arrested every year as they try to enter the US to look for
Venez, Mexico Resolve Relations Issue
Relations between Venezuela and Mexico are on the mend after a week of constant bickering between their foreign ministries.
The calm returned after a telephone conversation Friday between the two foreign ministers, Alà RodrÃguez and Luis Ernesto Derbez, from Venezuela and Mexico, respectively.
An official communiqué from Caracas qualified the conversation as “very cordial and positive,†said it was committed to improving relations more, and announced a forthcoming joint declaration to formally end the crisis between presidents Chávez (Venezuela) and Fox (México).
The spat began when at the Argentina America’s Summit Fox criticized Venezuela for rejecting the US-backed FTAA,
Mexico Border Retail the Highlight of Conference
An inside look at current and future trends in cross-border retailing, including the impacts of peso swings and increased border security, is the focus of a January conference in San Antonio.
"Cross-Border Shopping Activity" will be Friday, January 13, 2006, at the Holiday Inn Select, 77 N. E. Loop 410, San Antonio.
The conference is sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso Branches; the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Detroit Branch; and the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Participants can register to attend at http://www.dallasfed.org . Speakers will address
Two small quakes rattle along California-Mexico border
Two small earthquakes rattled just south of the U.S.-Mexico border Friday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.
Two magnitude-3.3 temblors struck at 4:21 p.m. and 4:49 p.m. centered about 19 miles south-southeast of the border city of Calexico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A dispatcher at the Imperial County Sheriff's Department said she had received no reports of injury or damage from either quake.
More: mercurynews.com
Mexico Urges US to Improve Cross-Border Security
Mexican migration experts are urging the Bush administration to press ahead with a temporary migrant worker program to improve cross-border security and save the lives of hundreds of people who are dying in their attempts to cross illegally into the United States.
U.S. border control statistics indicate that from January to the end of September this year, 464 people died while illegally attempting to cross the border between Mexico and the United States. That is an increase of 43 percent from the previous year.
A heat wave during August is partly to blame for some
