Move May Be Short-Sighted
Translation of a Mexico City news story by the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers reveals that the Mexican Senate wants President Felipe Calderon to send a message to the U.S. asking that plans to continue to protect its border against illegal immigration be dropped. ("Mexican Senate reproaches U.S. for measures against migrants")
According to the report, Barack Obama's plan to finish part of the virtual fence displeased the Mexicans, as did his failure to cut the number of Border Patrol agents.
The Mexicans say that Obama "went back on his promise he made to all Hispanic groups that supported him..." The Mexican Senate claims he is "closing the border," and is asking the Mexican president to manifest "an estrangement" because U.S. border enforcement is a violation of human rights. (This action by the Mexican Senate went unreported in the U.S.)
Short-Sighted?
While immigration reform (amnesty) appears to be dead for this session of Congress, the border protection issue could loom large as fears that drug-related violence in Mexico could spill over into the U.S. "While I am aware Mexicans are trying to retake the Southwest, If they knew what was good for them they would applaud better border protection," said Glenn Spencer of American Border Patrol. Spencer has argued that the Mexican drug war was set off by new border fence construction and that finishing the job would give the cartels nothing to fight over.
