Mexico Aides Illegals

The complicity of the Mexican government in America's illegal immigration crisis has been made shockingly clear by the presence of the Minutemen, a group of private American citizens have been patrolling an area of the US-Mexico border in Arixona for less than two weeks.

The Mexican army is escorting those attempting to cross over the U.S. border illegally – including known drug-runners – to areas not patrolled by the Minuteman Project near Naco, Ariz., say Border Patrol sources and other officials including a U.S. congressman.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, denounced the action by the Mexican military and called on President Bush to do the same.

'President Bush should publicly denounce Mexico's latest act to curb U.S. law,' said Tancredo. 'The president of Mexico is threatening to sue any member of the Minutemen who have contact with a Mexican national, threatening to take the U.S. into the International Court of Justice at the Hague over the passage of Prop 200 in Arizona, and is providing transportation to Mexican nationals trying to sneak into the U.S. One could say he is acting in the best interest of his nation. Isn't it unfortunate we cannot say the same thing about President Bush?'

If the Mexican military is directly facilitating illegal crossings into the US by Mexicans or others from Mexican territory, in direct contravention of US law, then the Mexican government is committing a hostile act against the US. Mexico has clear interests in sending as many illegal immigrants into the US as possible. Mexican nationals working in the US send back billions of dollars in remittances to their families in Mexico, which helps Mexico's otherwise struggling economy. The Mexican economy is further assisted by draining away otherwise unemployed poor people who would consume government subsidies were they still residing in Mexico. Finally, the presence of millions of Mexicans living in the US gives Mexico a historically unprecedent mechanism of political leverage in Washington, since the burgeoning Hispanic population (mostly Mexican) is beginning to have a weight of its own in US politics - witness President Bush's deference to Spanish-speaking Americans and his kowtowing to Mexican President Vincente Fox.

Representatives of the Minutemen confirm that the Mexican military has been active along the border.

Grey Deacon, a spokesman for the Minuteman Project, reported illegal immigration is down considerably from previous months in the area patrolled by the U.S. citizen volunteers trying to bring attention to the problem of the porous border. While he claimed credit for 241 Minuteman-assisted apprehensions by the Border Patrol in the week since the project began, he pointed out the 23-mile section of the border normally sees thousands of crossing attempts a day while they have been numbered in the dozens a day since the project began.

He said the Minutemen aided today in the capture of a 'coyote,' a professional human smuggler.

'But the traffic is down because the Mexican military is leading illegal aliens, including drug smugglers, away from the area of the border we are patrolling,' he said.


Border Patrol sources say the Mexican army recently moved about 1,000 troops to the Agua Prieta region, just south of where the Minutemen are. These troops, the sources say, are diverting all of the illegal alien and drug-smuggling traffic away from the Minutemen.

The intervention of Mexican officials on behalf of those illegally crossing the US border is highlighted by the actions of Hector Salazar, who works for Grupo Beta, a Mexican government funded agency that patrols the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border "to protect immigrants approaching the border, not to arrest them." Grupp Beta is not a part of the Mexican military, but it has been active in helping Mexicans violate American law for years. Recently, Mr. Salazar observed a group of six young men preparing to cross into Arizona Mr. Salazar quickly moved to warn them that the Minutemen were waiting for them on the other side of the border.

'They're over there, observing you,' he said, pointing to the sparks of sunlight that flashed off the cars and trucks of the volunteer civilian group that is here to spotlight what members call Washington's failure to control the border. The Minutemen waited in lawn chairs, binoculars scanning southward, cell phones ready to summon the Border Patrol.

'We recommend that you don't try to cross here,' Salazar said. 'The decision is yours, but it would be better to try somewhere else.'

In voicing its opposition to the Minutemen Project, the Mexican government made clear that it had deployed its armed forces along the US-Mexico border and expected trouble.

Just prior to the launch of the Minuteman Project March 30, Miguel Escobar Valdez, Mexican consul in Douglas, Ariz., said the Mexican military was bracing for possible violence on the border.

'The Mexican army is on alert,' Escobar said. 'Also, law enforcement will be vigilant because the situation is very volatile. This is because, I have to say it, there are violent and radical elements on both sides of the border.'

There would be no threat of violence on the US-Mexico border if Mexico respected US territorial sovereignty and American law. Mexico is attempting to US illegal immigration for its own economic and political benefit. This is the cause of the "volatile" situation on the border. It is interesting to note that Mexico is willing to deploy its military forces along the US-Mexico border to protect the interests of Mexican citizens, while President Bush is unwilling to do anything to protect the interests of American citizens or US territorial integrity.