May 26, 2010, - 12:35 pm
Illegal Aliens Complain About Tough Immigration Laws in . . . Mexico
It’s old, old news that Mexico’s laws against illegal aliens–and legal immigrants–are far tougher than those in the U.S., including the new Arizona immigration law. And that’s why most of us knew that Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s recent attack on the law, while he was at the White House, was sheer hypocrisy.
But what is, in fact, news is that illegal aliens in Mexico are now speaking out about it AND that one mainstream media source is actually even covering it.
Today, USA Today has nearly half a page devoted to the brutality of Mexico’s immigration agents and its tough immigration laws. Kudos to reporter Chris Hawley for daring to tell the truth on the other side of the open Southern border. At least our authorities–whether from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Arizona police–don’t beat illegal aliens to a pulp. We treat them with an excess of humane behavior, and that’s part of why we have the illegal alien problem to which Mexico’s doesn’t hold a candle.
Never thought I’d see this headline atop a page of that or any other mainstream media outlet:
Activists Blast Mexico’s Immigration Law
Glad to see it. And there’s more to see. The important excerpts:
“There (in the United States), they’ll deport you,” Hector Vázquez, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, said as he rested in a makeshift camp with other migrants under a highway bridge in Tultitlán. “In Mexico they’ll probably let you go, but they’ll beat you up and steal everything you’ve got first.” . . .
Mexico’s Arizona-style law requires local police to check IDs. And Mexican police freely engage in racial profiling and routinely harass Central American migrants, say immigration activists.
“The Mexican government should probably clean up its own house before looking at someone else’s,” said Melissa Vertíz, spokeswoman for the Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center in Tapachula, Mexico.
In one six-month period from September 2008 through February 2009, at least 9,758 migrants were kidnapped and held for ransom in Mexico — 91 of them with the direct participation of Mexican police, a report by the National Human Rights Commission said. Other migrants are routinely stopped and shaken down for bribes, it said.
A separate survey conducted during one month in 2008 at 10 migrant shelters showed Mexican authorities were behind migrant attacks in 35 of 240 cases, or 15%. . . .
Beltrán Rodríguez had arrived in Mexico with 950 pesos, about $76, enough to last him to the U.S. border. But near Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, he says municipal police had detained him, driven him to a deserted road and taken his money. He had been surviving since then by begging.
Abuses by Mexican authorities have persisted even as Mexico has relaxed its rules against illegal immigrants in recent years, according to the National Human Rights Commission. . . .
Mexican law calls for six to 12 years of prison and up to $46,000 in fines for anyone who shelters or transports illegal immigrants. The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the law applies only to people who do it for money.
Hey, we should take a hint from Mexico in that instance.
Article 67 of Mexico’s immigration law requires that all authorities “whether federal, local or municipal” demand to see visas if approached by a foreigner and to hand over migrants to immigration authorities. . . .
To discourage migrants from speaking out about abuse, Mexican authorities often tell detainees they will have to stay longer in detention centers if they file a complaint.
Can you imagine if ICE agents or Arizona police did that? They’d be behind bars.
Like I said, none of this is news to anyone who’s been paying attention. But it’s news that our pro-illegal alien, mainstream media is beginning–at least in one major source–to tell the whole story about Mexico.
Tags: Arizona, Arizona immigration law, Chris Hawley, Felipe Calderon, Illegal Aliens, Immigration, Mexican immigration law, Mexico, Mexico's immigration law, USA Today
Tolerance
pat on May 26, 2010 at 1:19 pm