IPS Reports "Mexicans Jittery About Raids, Deportations"
11/21/2007
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An article on the Inter-Press Service website, dateline Mexico City, is titled "Mexicans Jittery About Raids, Deportations." It presents the usual sob stories about deportation from the point of view of the Mexican government. The first paragraph reports that
Panic has taken hold of the six million Mexicans who live in the United States without residence permits, because of the ongoing crackdown on "illegal aliens", which has involved an increasing number of raids and deportations.
A Mexican dwelling in Los Angeles tells a reporter that
We are being harassed and persecuted, and I confess we are extremely nervous. We don't feel that Mexico is helping us at all. I've thought about not taking my son to school anymore, because they might capture me, or him, and then we'd separated, which would not be fair to him. But what can I do? He can't stay home or go into hiding.
The Calderon administration is adding two more Mexican consulates in the U.S. And consulates' ability to meddle is being enhanced:
Consulates will also strengthen their legal assistance teams, who help defend immigrants when they face discrimination, and provide advice and support if they are detained with a view to deportation.
Calderon also plans a PR blitz:
And to project a positive image of migrants in the U.S., the Mexican government will launch "direct media campaigns aimed at showing migrant success stories and raising awareness of the many contributions" migrants make to U.S. society, said Calder??n.
"The idea is not to pursue purely confrontational strategies and wars of words, which only exacerbate anti-Mexican feeling and arouse the worst discriminatory phobias, but to win the battle in U.S. public opinion, so that Mexicans may be recognised as who they are — a major support for the economy and society," the president said.
Calderon promises that "My government will not rest until it achieves full recognition and respect for the rights of Mexicans abroad."
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