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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2005 
Governors Will Work Towards Migration Plan
 Wire services
| | New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is the only U.S. governor who stayed for the full meeting. |
Torreon, Coahuila - U.S. and Mexican governors agreed Friday to work for the passage of a temporary-worker program for Mexicans in the United States and to ask both countries to declare the border a strategic security zone deserving of federal funds for public security, including anti-terrorism measures.
The governors, wrapping up a two-day conference, also pledged to stand together against the mistreatment of Mexican migrants, both legal and undocumented, who live in the United States.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson thanked California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his "great enthusiasm" in backing the resolution on migration, while acknowledging it's a topic "nobody wants to talk about."
TABOO SUBJECT
"Immigration is a topic that nobody wants to talk about, but we did it effectively and we are going to continue this discussion" at the next annual border governor's conference, scheduled for Galveston, Texas.
Earlier Friday, Richardson met with six of his Mexican counterparts to discuss migration and ways to halt a wave of drug-fueled violence that has left scores of people dead along the border.
Presenting the details of a joint resolution reached Friday, Coahuila Gov. Enrique Martínez said the state leaders agreed to ask the federal governments of Mexico and the United States to declare the 2,000-mile-long (3,200-kilometer) border a "strategic zone" for security, a designation that would free up funds for public security programs, including anti-terrorism measures.
"Even though the issue of border security is the responsibility of the federal governments of Mexico and the United States, we recognize the importance of border security and the elimination of human trafficking," Martínez said.
On Thursday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry promised in a video speech to allocate an additional US5 million to support law enforcement along the border and said he had increased the number of state troopers in the area.
"One of the greatest challenges our nations face is cutting off the drug trade and ending the violence that it has brought to both sides of the border," Perry said.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger attended the meeting for a few hours before leaving late Thursday.
He did not address the gathering in his first official visit to Mexico. Still, he became the focus of attention, with Mexican reporters snapping his picture at every chance.
Earlier this year, Schwarzenegger drew criticism from Mexican officials after he praised U.S. civilian volunteer border patrols in Arizona.
The governors pledged Friday to take all necessary measures to oppose the mistreatment of Mexican migrants.
"We will demand respect for all citizens who go (to the United States) in search of a better quality of life," said Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy Walther.
President Vicente Fox, who addressed the gathering in a video message, spoke against the border patrols and said Mexico will stand against anyone acting outside the law.
"We will demand that the human rights of migrants be respected," he said.
In April, volunteers with the Minuteman project patrolled the Arizona-Mexico border, drawing international attention and criticism. Organizers have said they will begin patrolling the border in New Mexico and Texas in October.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, whose state has borne the brunt of illegal immigration in recent years, did not attend the meeting.
The governors also discussed cross-border violence connected to drug traffickers and youth gangs.
Cities on both sides of the border rely on tourists who cross over to shop and visit relatives. But recent violence, especially in Nuevo Laredo, has diminished that cross-border trade.
NUEVO LAREDO VIOLENCE
The violence in Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, has left more than 80 people dead since the beginning of the year. It also prompted the U.S. State Department to issue a travel advisory alerting citizens to recent drugtrafficking and kidnappings on the Mexican side of the border.
The resolution reached Friday calls for better training for Mexican police, programs to prevent violence along the border, and the creation of a database containing the identities of members of criminal organizations, including the Zetas, a group of Mexican soldiers-turned-drug hit men believed to be controlling Nuevo Laredo.
Officials said law enforcement leaders also had begun work on a database of members of the Mara Salvatrucha and the MS-18, two of the most ruthless Central American gangs. Their members have spread to the U.S.Mexico border. |
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