FOX
MEXICO CITY (Reuters):
ANGERED BY a bill in the United States Congress aimed at cracking down on undocumented workers, Mexican President Vicente Fox urged Americans yesterday not to forget that many of their ancestors emigrated to the United States.
The legislation, which foresees building a high-tech fence on parts of the U.S.-Mexican border to stop illegal immigrants, neared passage in the U.S. House of Representatives last week.
The legislation, which has divided Republicans, would also make it harder for U.S. employers to hire illegal aliens and make it a felony to live in the United States illegally.
COUNTRY OF IMMIGRANTS
"It's a very bad sign, which does not speak well of a country that is proud of being democratic, proud of being a country of immigrants," Fox said in a speech to relatives of Mexican migrants.
Most Mexicans know someone who has emigrated to the United States and their welfare is a key issue for Mexican governments.
Fox, speaking in his home state of Guanajuato, said Americans need to remember they were descended from immigrants.
"The vast majority of the population of the United States, when we look at their roots, are immigrants who have arrived from all over the world and who have constructed that great nation. That's why they can't deny who they are," Fox said.
Mexican workers in the United States sent home a record US$20 billion to relatives and friends this year.
Last week, Fox described the proposal to put up security fences with lighting and cameras on the border as disgraceful, and Mexican officials have likened it to the construction of the Berlin Wall.
