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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2005 
Mexico Launches Plan to Legalize Immigrants
 Wire services
The government on Thursday launched a plan to "normalize" the residency status of undocumented persons from Latin America and other regions who entered the country before January 2002, immigration authorities here announced.
The aim of the measure, which will be in force until June 30, 2006, is to offer "greater legal security and support to the foreigners who want to remain in Mexico and don't have their immigration documents in order," said the national immigration institute, known as the INM, in a communiqué.
The plan, which comes in response to a "recent request" made by the Central American governments to President Vicente Fox, is also designed to prevent undocumented persons from "being the target of corruption or having their human rights violated," the INM said.
"It's a good faith effort by the Mexican government, and there will be no repatriation for people who come to take advantage of the program but find they are not eligible to receive its benefits," the organization emphasized.
The government said that, starting Thursday, undocumented foreigners can come to any of the INM's 32 offices to take care of the paperwork, and the legalization of their immigration status should take no longer than 90 days.
Officials said that people who can take advantage of the program include "all those who are in Mexico and can prove they have a job or are involved in an activity that is legal, honest and beneficial for the country."
"The INM reserves the right not to process foreigners who are subject to penal procedings, those who have violated national laws or who have bad records abroad," the organization said.
Legalization will be decided on a case by case basis and is likely to involve payment of fees not exceeding 1,000 pesos (US94), said the sources.
Although authorities have no exact, or even approximate, figure for the number of undocumented foreigners in Mexico, estimates are that each month thousands of Central and South Americans enter the country across the Guatemalan border.
Also, dozens of undocumented migrants try to enter Mexico each month from the Caribbean, particularly from Cuba, along with a number of citizens of Middle Eastern countries, such as Iraq.
Most of the undocumented persons are trying to use Mexico as a bridge country to get to the United States, immigration authorities say. |
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