Calderon Likens Fence To Berlin Wall
Mexico's President Elect Calls Both ‘Grave’ Errors; Vicente Fox Says Fence Is An ‘Embarrassment’
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Bush Signs Secure Fence Act
President Bush signs the Secure Fence Act of 2006. He says the bill promises to establish operational control over the international land and maritime borders of the United States.
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President-elect Felipe Calderon, who takes over from President Fox on Dec. 1, called the decision to extend the fence "deplorable." (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
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A man rests his hands on a fence looking out to the United States at a Mexican customs station. The man had been detained by U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona and was returned to Mexico in Nogales, Mexico, Thursday, May 19, 2006. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
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Bush signed the bill, approved by the Senate last month, despite pleas from the Mexican government for a veto.
President Vicente Fox told reporters in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun that the fence would not stop millions of Mexicans from heading north in search of jobs.
“It is an embarrassment for the United States,” Fox said. “It is proof, perhaps, that the United States does not see immigration as a subject that corresponds to both countries.”
President-elect Felipe Calderon, who takes over from Fox on Dec. 1, agreed.
“The decision made by Congress and the U.S. government is deplorable,” Calderon said while on tour in Canada. “Humanity committed a grave error by constructing the Berlin wall and I am sure that today the United States is committing a grave error in constructing a wall along our northern border.”
The Mexican foreign ministry later said in a news release that the construction of a wall affects the United States' relationship with Mexico, as well as with Central American countries, from which thousands emigrate northward.
On Wednesday, Mexico, supported by 27 countries, made a declaration at the Organization of American States, expressing their “profound concern” about the plan.
An estimated 11 million Mexicans live in the United States, about half of them illegally.
©MMVI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



Tough Sh*t.
Clean up your act, and stop sending your poor here. They are YOUR responsibility.
Maybe Bush was wrong after all. It should have been regime change in Mexico City. Marta and Vicente have sucked off their hapless masses much too long.
Or how do minefields sound, Mr. Calderon? The schools and hospitals in the West are too packed with your non-English, refusing to be American refuse. Take Care of them - or we might consider taking care of you...
Fox and Calderon and anyone else who thinks we should have an open border are hypocrits. Mexico's southern border is very tight. Anyone who enters Mexico illegally from the south stands a very good chance of being raped, robbed, beaten, brutalized, or murdered by the MEXICAN ARMY. In fact, any Anglo who ventures into Mexico's back country stands a very good chance of having an unpleasant run-in with the Mexican army.
The primary reason Mexican leaders don't want the border fence is because they believe that the southwest U.S. still belongs to Mexico and that they have a right to be here. Mexican leaders want their land back and they are going to get it by "reconquista"--by sending their poor to re-settle here. With 12 million illegals already here it looks like they are doing a very good job of it.
"Build the wall, long and tall."
Close our borders.Empty our jails and prisons of foreign criminals who come here to practice their crimes. Stop handing out welfare to illegally aliens who get a free handout and live the "welfare" lifestyle, who teach their children to do the same thing and who purposely breed children only to milk the system for more money. Whose children disrupt the classroom everyday denying education of those rightful citizens who are entitled to a free education. There are middle class citizens who are sick of paying for these lazy blood suckers and are sick of the right to prosper and live the so called American dream. Put up that wall, build it high and thick. Tighten immigration. Americans are sick of losing their opportunities and their financial future to foreigners. Yes it is time for the middle class to stand up and fight not only against corporations who hire foreigners but also free loading foreigners themselvs.
Build that fence Bush! Because stopping the inward flow will be the only good thing you have done for America!
JaneyMcGreev--3
Together, they have made it clear to Bush he should not rock the boat bringing free (or, almost free) laborers. As you know, labor is the biggest expense of most projects and business. Think of the money these Bush patrons save by not paying scale. At that profit level, anyone could make a fortune, and most do. So there is huge pressure not to do anything about illegals from the very people haranguing at the local civic clubs about security and patriotism.
Though Bush spent a lot of time passing himself off as a product of Texas, his interest in the condition of Mexico must pick up dramatically out of sheer self-interest. Mexico becomes our Iraq of the future if someone in congress and the Oval Office doesn't take the situation in hand. No matter how much we belabor the point, merely dumping our factories in Mexico will not jump start the Mexican economy or reform its infrastructure. Mexico is a problem not cured by either threats or ignorance, but by wise and constructive, cooperative aid. One thing Bush says about the situation is entirely correct-- "We are a nation of immigrants." So, let's at least help correct the problems which drive people out of their homes, native land and across deserts at great risk, merely to work for figurative peanuts in a land of hostile Anglos. This is not a nation vs. nation issue-- it long since became a slow-motion flood of economic refugrees from a Mexico in deep trouble.
JaneyMcGreev--2
So, how to help? Clinton tried, to his credit, in a "self-funding" structural approach called NAFTA (after a fashion with which I and many others disagree). But matters idled aimlessly and progressively worse since then. Due to a variety of factors, Mexico could not even make a consistent profit on its considerable oil reserves.
They needed more help, but still got little constructive attention from us. Lots of inter-American PR, surely, because that is cheap compared to action. And when the steady stream of illegals under Clinton finally became a flood under Bush, it was clear Mexico was in danger again. You might think Washington could have recognized a severe problem on its way to impending disaster, but you couldn't interest the Beltway. And whose watch was it while congress passed tax breaks galore for the wealthiest one percent, but not a dime for even border problems? This GOP policy of deliberate inattention was astounding, and merely increased the slack from Clinton years for the full six years of the Bush term. All too soon, we were busy "nation building" off in the MidEast (or what was supposed to pass for it).
Aggravating the policy problem is the fact that Bush has political patrons in construction, the food processing industry and among the agricultural giants-- cheap labor is their lifeblood. Simply put, they don't want illegal immigration to stop.
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I'd swear you watch too much FOX TV, Janey, for all your studied belligerence. Most of us understand the loss of border security, and also grasp the terror issues it raises. And were the illegals returned to Mexico tomorrow, I am not sure Fox or Calderon would be there with open arms to welcome them back.
But this could use some perspective. It was not that long ago the Mexican economy-- lock, stock and enchilada-- went south. Only the last-minute intervention of Clinton, Rubin and others averted catastrophe in the international financial markets. You might think, so what, if millions of Mexicans are out of work, out of food, out of hope. As you said, they are Mexico's problem...
But not completely. Though Mexico has had civil unrest for centuries, almost as a way of life, having the country come apart literally next door is a megasecurity threat. Even the Russians and Chinese understand that about tiny North Korea. So, the people of Mexico matter, whether understood as human beings or potential terrorists, like it or not.
We in America need to pull back from this Frenzy of Fear that has spellbound us since September 11, 2001. I am not saying to let down our guard or not be prudent with our Law enforcement, Intelligence agencies or Military as their constant job is to protect the American people and they do it well. Rationally speaking it is more likely that a person will be killed in a car accident on the way to get milk than killed by a Terrorist in America. Hispanics coming across our border for work are not the terrorist or the enemy. Unfair trade practices initiated by our government are the cause of our jobs leaving and the demise of the Middle Class in America not some Terrorist plot. Political Parties have been using fear in an attempt to maintain power in this country. Americans do the math you are more likely to do yourself bodily harm than to be harmed by a Terrorist. America is a Land of Opportunity and hopes where people live in Freedom. America is not a land were people will be governed by Fear.
That's just too bad; but it is better for Calderon to feel a bit of embarrassment than for his neighbor to feel overwhelmed. See, we don't know what some of the crazier and more jingoistic Americans will do to Mexicans if there is not enough sign that things will lessen from Mexico's side.
I myself do not support a 'fence'!
I would prefer a "Great Wall of USA".
With a mere 'fence', the 'coyotes' trafficking people across the border are likely to barrow under a mere 'fence'.
Americans have to grow up. Not only is this how all of us got here one or two or three generations ago, and not only were our grandmothers and great-grandfathers spat on and mistreated (Irish got it among the worst), but all these immigrants provided the raw labor muscle that made America the world's most productive powerhouse economy.
Americans should be proud that for two centuries, when people searched this planet for hope, they found it here. We should turn that pride -- pride in Real Things, not in a colorful symbol -- into a better and more respectful Bienvenido/Welcome. In making ourselves the most powerful economy on Earth, we knew they'd come and we wanted them to come. Let's stop insulting the memory of our own desperate great-grandparents. All these people want to do is work.
Americans have to grow up. Not only is this how all of us got here one or two or three generations ago, and not only were our grandmothers and great-grandfathers spat on and mistreated (Irish got it among the worst), but all these immigrants provided the raw labor muscle that made America the world's most productive powerhouse economy.
Americans should be proud that for two centuries, when people searched this planet for hope, they found it here. We should turn that pride -- pride in Real Things, not in a colorful symbol -- into a better and more respectful Bienvenido/Welcome. In making ourselves the most powerful economy on Earth, we knew they'd come and we wanted them to come. Let's stop insulting the memory of our own desperate great-grandparents. All these people want to do is work.
Posted by BinkaJonz
Because "brown" ran through American streets waving their mexican flags. And because "brown" won't learn English, "brown" won't pay taxes, "brown" raises the crime rate where ever "brown" lives, and "brown" wants all the constrution jobs and other jobs that Americans WILL do because some Americans are barely able to make it, and "brown" still holds a grudge about loosing some shriveled up dirt to America...When my great-grandfather came to America in 1912, he learned the language, he PAID TAXES all his life and he was proud to become an American citizen, and he did all that without BREAKING ANY LAWS or climbing over a fence!!! True, immmigrants get cra pped on...as a Hungarian my grandfather was mistaken for German by stupid ingoranuses and harrassed until he changed his last name to sound more Americanized...so yeah, he got cra pped on some but he perservered and although my family is proud of it's Hungarian heritage, we are even MORE PROUD of AMERICAN heritage...this is the greatest country in the world butit can only remain so if we all follow the rules!
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by gaznabbi
October 28, 2006 8:42 PM PDT
- yu know....i lived in ga. for 3 years as an illegal worker...i was legal in the country though.....travelled back and forth to make sure my visa stayed legal.....georgia to me has a lot of love for mexicans....they appreciate.....belize has a population that is primarily english....so we fair better.....but to me there are more americans that love these people than who want to kick them out.....including yu LOU.
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