VARIOUS: Mexico's President and President-elect criticize Bush signing legislation to erect a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico

U.S. President George W. Bush signed legislation on Thursday (October 26) authorizing 1126 kilometers (700 miles) of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border, an election-year move against illegal immigration aimed at helping Republicans. Republicans hoped the legislation would give them an election-year boost as they try to head off a strong Democratic attempt to oust them from control of the U.S. Congress. "We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility seriously," Bush said in a signing ceremony in the White House Roosevelt Room. Bush had long opposed supporting a bill that was limited to border enforcement, spending months in a failed attempt to persuade the U.S. Congress to back a comprehensive measure that would include a guest worker program for illegal immigrants. The Senate had approved a measure he preferred, but Republicans in charge of the House of Representatives insisted on border enforcement only, feeling election-year heat from Americans upset about the impact of illegal immigration in their states. Bush insisted a guest-worker program would ease pressure along the border, and said Americans must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already living in the United States. The signing of the bill prompted swift reaction from Mexico. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. embassy in Mexico City to protest against the decision they say will undoubtedly cause more harm than good. "We reject the wall because it is a total cancellation of the human rights of the Mexican people and mainly because we know that the economy of the United States is supported by the efforts of the workers," one woman said while demonstrating outside the embassy. The Mexican government called on the United States to "reconsider" and President Vicente Fox strongly rejected the fence. "Our position is clear," he said from Cancun, "we consider the construction of that fence useless. But also our position is very clear in defending the rights of the Mexican migrants in that country, their labor rights, their human rights and assure that they are respected as the productive persons they are. We will continue fighting for this always." Mexico's President-elect Felipe Calderon had said earlier in the month that the move would "enormously complicate" relations with the United States. During a visit to Canada, Calderon equated the border fence to the Berlin wall. "I would like to repeat that it seems to us a deplorable decision that the United States Congress and the government has made to go ahead and build a wall along the border," Calderon said during a joint news conference with Canada's Prime Minister Steve Harper in Ottawa. "Walls do not resolve anything, humanity made a grave error when a wall was built in Berlin and I am certain that today, the United States has made a grave error in making the decision to construct a wall," he said. The 700 miles of fencing would run along parts of four southwestern states, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The U.S.-Mexican border runs about 2,000 miles. The legislation did not provide funding for the fencing, but simply authorized its construction. Part of the funding for the fence, $1.2 billion, was included in a homeland security bill he signed earlier this month. Congressional Republicans had passed the legislation weeks ago but held off sending the legislation to Bush for signing so it could be used as an election-year tool. Democrats have called the legislation a political stunt.

ITN Source | October 28, 2006

Tags:. .earlier. .gathered. .construction. .borders. .arizona