Posted on 11/13/2004 8:41:09 AM PST by madfly
Interior Secretary Creel meets with U.S. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to coordinate security measures.
Wire services
El Universal
Miércoles 10 de noviembre de 2004Top U.S. and Mexican authorities said Tuesday they had taken significant steps to increase security along their shared border, but acknowledged it is a "very attractive" possible route for terrorists wanting to harm the United States.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Mexican Interior Secretary Santiago Creel said officials on both sides of the border have redoubled their security efforts without interrupting the steady flow of commerce that is so important to the strong trade partners.
Ridge also said that a plan by U.S. President George W. Bush to grant temporary residency to millions of Mexicans with U.S. job offers would help make the border safer by encouraging legal migration.
Ridge and Creel were among top-level officials from the United States and Mexico who gathered Tuesday in Mexico City to review a range of issues including border security and migration.
No terrorists are believed to have crossed into the United States from Mexico, but the U.S. and Mexican security chiefs underscored the importance of not letting down their guard against potential threats.
Ridge said U.S. intelligence agencies have received reports that the border "is a means by which the terrorists have considered infiltrating" the country.
"The traditional openness of our border is potentially a very attractive way of delivering terrorists or weapons into the United States," he said.
Using its army, navy and national police, Mexico has redoubled efforts to "safeguard the country and its interests from any terrorist attack or prevent our territory from serving as a passage toward other countries, principally the United States," Creel said.
Strengthening crime-fighting efforts against drug traffickers and other organized criminals in Mexico is another important way to keep the border safe, Ridge said.
"Drugs are a weapon of mass destruction," he said, adding that he believed drug traffickers wouldn't hesitate to cooperate with terrorists.
Both Creel and Ridge said they had been successful in tightening security measures without significantly interrupting the steady flow of commerce between the two countries, by designating specific traffic lanes at the ports of entry to cargo vehicles.
Ridge said some congressional members and senators have differing opinions on Bush's migration accord, but that the president is willing to take up the issue with the new Congress in 2005.
The meetings Tuesday also touched on some sensitive issues in Mexico regarding the border and security.
The posting in January of U.S. agents at the Mexico City airport sparked outrage among Mexicans as has the use of pepperball guns by the U.S. Border Patrol when dealing with aggressive migrants along the border.
Ridge explained Tuesday that the pepper-balls are used in "very selective circumstances" with prior training and monitoring, noting that Border Patrol agents frequently risk their lives to aid migrants.
Creel said each country has the sovereignty to protect its borders with a caveat.
"We have emphasized to the American government that the actions that are carried out against the migrants should always respect their human rights, their dignity." Using formal financial institutions to send billions of dollars in remittances from Mexican migrants in the United States to relatives back home is another important way of warding off criminal enterprises such as money laundering, officials said Tuesday.
World Bank representatives participating in the binational meetings said Mexico and the United States have become a model for other countries by using these transfer methods to send remittances, which totaled US12.4 billion through the first nine months of the year and a record a record US13.3 billion last year.
"When the transfers are made through banking systems, it is much more difficult to violate the security and integrity of the remittances," said Alonso García Tames, deputy secretary of Mexico's Treasury Department.
According to the Bank of Mexico, 85 percent of money transfers from the United States to Mexico were sent via formal banking institutions in 2003, which officials said was a dramatic increase over previous years.
Last year, remittances surpassed foreign investment to become the country's second-most important source of revenues after oil.
Mexican officials say there are about 25 million people of Mexican origin living in the United States.
U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige, on his third visit to Mexico as secretary, said that countries around the world have expressed concern that new security measures may be reducing access to U.S. universities.
"Our nation is an open society and we've had to learn to get the proper balance of being an open society and being a secure society," Paige said. "We've asked other nations to understand this and to exercise some patience here."
Close the border tight and shoot anyone trying to get through it illegally.
Yeah, right!
Close all borders now.
Of course though -- the money made from the $5 an hour farm workers or $1.50 an hour illegal live-in nannies is far surpassed by the money from the illegal drug smuggling and distribution. That's where the really important money is.
Of course though -- the money made from the $5 an hour farm workers or $1.50 an hour illegal live-in nannies is far surpassed by the money from the illegal drug smuggling and distribution. That's where the really important money is.
"The border is attractive to terrorists". No Shiite Sherlock!
if all these damn liberals werent so lazy sitting around smoking pot all day, then they could work the crap jobs and we wouldnt have to have all these mexicans coming over.
if only military service wasnt mandatory like in Korea or Italy, then we could FORCE these slacker liberals to learn some WORK ETHIC.
FYI
ping
Duh. If they knew this, why wasn't the border closed after 9/11? Many millions of people have easily crossed that border since then. Americans have been screaming about it for years, and they wait until now to announce this?
"Last year, remittances (US dollars) surpassed foreign investment to become the country's (Mexico) second-most important source of revenues after oil."
Okay, that explains what's in it for them. But, please, explain what is in it for us? Yeah, yeah, I know.....jobs we won't take. .......
I know I posted the link to a website where employers, Apt. Managers or JohnQPublic could type in a name to see if a person was registred.
Jinx,
We've been trying to tell them this for how LONG? Even with a phot of a diary written in arabic and they still don't listen.
JB,
and how many have the ABP tracked using homemade UAVs before the BP listened and got UAVs of their own?
Sheeeeeeeeeeesh!
Good to see you are on line, hope you have been well.
Powell Outlines Progress, Challenges in U.S.-Mexico Relations (Transcript-Mexico City)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1278688/posts?page=37#37
speaking of BACK, all the hours I've logged on here using a non-ergonimic chair and bad posture did a number on my cervical spine, which was already in bad shape. I have cervical stenosis, degenerative disk disease, reversed curve (actually I have an xray showing my neck is as straight as a stick!) AND a bulging protruding disk causing major pain and neuropathy. No wonder I've dropped so many dishes in recent years. My neuroligist is saying surgery is not an option, but necessary to stop the advancing nerve damage. I'm very scared about them cutting my throat open to hammer and saw on my spine. I'm seeing a neurosurgeon at Barrows Neuroligical Inst. next month.
Thanks R.R. for the ping.
Bump
btt
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