Posted on 01/04/2005 5:10:26 PM PST by nanak
MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexico on Tuesday defended a government comic book showing illegal migrants how to cross the border and live quietly in the United States against charges that it promotes undocumented immigration.
The 32-page color primer, published by Mexico's foreign ministry in December, gives would-be migrants tips including how to swim across the Rio Grande and avoid dehydration in the desert. It also sets out their legal rights on detention.
Some U.S. groups and newspaper editorial writers have slammed the booklet as a "how-to" manual for 1 million or more Mexicans who attempt the illegal crossing each year.
"It's reminiscent of the instructions to al Qaeda operatives to help their terrorists keep a low profile in safe houses in Britain," Ric Oltman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform told Reuters.
But Mexico's foreign ministry said the booklet was an attempt to save lives and inform migrants of the legal consequences of entering the United States.
"Last year over 300 Mexicans died in their attempt to enter the United States in search of a job and the government has the obligation to avoid that," Geronimo Gutierrez, the ministry's undersecretary for North American affairs told Reuters.
"The guide clearly states that the safe and appropriate way to enter any country is with a valid passport and a visa, and in no way promotes undocumented immigration," he added.
The official said some 1.5 million copies of the pamphlet had been distributed to several states in central Mexico with high migration rates.
The booklet urges migrants to wear light clothing to make their swim across border rivers easier and suggests they add salt to water to avoid dehydration while crossing the deserts that form much of the 2,000-mile frontier.
It also informs migrants of their rights to medical and consular attention if they are detained by U.S. officials.
Using graphic sequences depicting baseball-cap wearing family members, it counsels Mexicans who succeed in reaching the United States to avoid bar brawls, drunken driving and domestic violence.
Gutierrez said the guide sets out "the rights that any Mexican has regardless of their migratory status, based on United States and international law."
Don't know if there's a word for minefield (or land mines) but I'd like to see this one:
¡Advertencia! Tiradores emboscados a continuación. (warning! snipers ahead.)
Or so Babelfish says... ;-)
The morning talk show today on KLIF here in Dallas covered all aspects of this developing story. If you live in or around the I-35 corridor here in Texas you are in for a big surprize if this long term plan goes through. It is estimated to be Fifty Years to complete and this is to be literally a total power play as it goes forward. The FTAA is part of a organized plan to turn this country into a EURO- Clone that will affect all of the Americas!
Just a plain old rock. A number of local BP agents have been severely injured by thrown rocks. A couple of illegals have been shot in return. Earlier this year one illegal almost nailed a helicopter by tossing softball-sized rocks into the rotors.
Hey, this game can go two ways. How about we develop a booklet that tells the Mexicans how to stay home and get rid of their lousy government? Or we alter these books to tell them to turn themselves in at the border. This is child's play!
Featuring a foreward by Congressman David Dreier and Introduction by President George W. Bush.
The Adventures of Supermigrante and Lois Lane.
But hey, they're just good folks looking for work. Why would they need such warnings?
Notice she's on one of the pages covering "your rights" (tus derechos). I'm wondering about the subliminal messages they're trying to put out there --- all the women's bodies are quite overendowed.
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