Mexico to lobby Bush against fence bill

[kg_veteran]

Not surprising. Buried in the last paragraph is the rather obvious reason that Mexico is against this bill...

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Mexico to lobby Bush against fence bill

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO, Associated Press WriterFri Sep 29, 11:38 PM ET

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Mexico said Friday it will try to persuade President Bush not to sign a bill that would extend a wall along the border in an effort to stop illegal immigrants.

Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez strongly criticized the legislation to build a 700-mile border fence, which the Senate approved Friday and sent to Bush to sign.

Derbez said Mexico will send a letter to the U.S. government strongly condemning the measure. Asked by a reporter if the government would try to "dissuade" Bush from signing the bill into law, he replied, "Without a doubt."

"We have pointed out in a clear and unequivocal way that it seems unnecessary to us and seems wrong," Derbez added. "We think it is a gesture that doesn't reflect the friendship between nations of Latin America and the Caribbean and the United States."

Congress has abandoned Mexico's top priority: an immigration accord that would have allowed more Mexicans to work legally in the United States. Bush had proposed a temporary worker program that would have given three-year work visas to those with jobs lined up in the U.S.

Instead, U.S. lawmakers have focused on increasing security along the border. The House of Representatives and Senate have maneuvered to speed construction of the double-layer fence along the U.S. southern border aimed at keeping migrants and criminals from entering the country illegally.

Derbez's remarks came a day after his office issued a statement saying the border fence would harm relations between Mexico and the United States. The Foreign Relations Department said that only comprehensive immigration reform would stop millions of Mexicans from sneaking across the border into the U.S.

"A partial measure that is exclusively focused on security does not deal with reality and represents a political answer rather than a viable solution," it said in the statement.

There are an estimated 11 million Mexicans in the United States, about half of whom are illegal. Last year, Mexican migrants sent home more than $20 billion in remittances, providing Mexico with its second biggest source of foreign income after oil.