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 News from Around the Americas | August 2006 
Stop "Blame Game," Mexican Ambassador Says of Immigration Debate
 Daniel Yee - Associated Press
| | Carlos de Icaza, Mexico's ambassador to the United States, reacts as he speaks about immigration and migrant workers during a news conference at the Consulate in Atlanta, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006. De Icaza said that migrants are not terrorists, migrants are hard workers and the immigration dilemma will not be stopped by legislation alone. (AP/Ric Feld) |
Atlanta - Immigration reform is too big for a single country to handle alone, and both Mexico and the United States need to work constructively on the issue, Mexico's ambassador to the U.S. said Wednesday.
"We need to start talking like neighbors, stop the 'blame game' and start looking at this issue constructively," Ambassador Carlos de Icaza said during a visit to the Mexican consulate in Atlanta.
De Icaza came to Atlanta to be the keynote speaker of a Georgia Tech symposium. "We need both the United States and Mexico to acknowledge that international cooperation is essential in immigration issue. No country can solve this dilemma by itself."
The ambassador's comments came a day after supporters of the U.S. House version of immigration reform blamed illegal immigrants for putting undue strain on the nation's health care system.
Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said during the congressional field hearing in Dalton, Ga., that fewer poor Americans are able to receive Medicaid "because illegal aliens get Medicaid."
Congress remains deadlocked between House and Senate versions of immigration reform. Some Republicans say the Senate plan does not go far enough and object to provisions including one that would allow some illegal immigrants now in the United States to work toward becoming citizens.
"The fact that Congress is holding hearings all around the country means there is a great interest in reforming the immigration laws," de Icaza said. "We sincerely hope while doing this they acknowledge they have a neighbor to the south, that it is a friendly neighbor to the U.S."
De Icaza said he hoped any U.S. immigration reform would both address the security needs of the United States and "the reality" of the border situation, which is that Mexican workers will continue to seek jobs in the U.S. economy - which acts like a "magnet" because it is 15 times as large as Mexico's.
Mexico would like to see a guest worker program in the United States and wants to ensure that Mexican workers in the United States are able to work without fear, he said. Mexico also is working diligently on its economic policies and improving living conditions so Mexicans will not feel the need to leave the country to work, he added. |
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