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Mexican Agency suspends plans to give border maps to 'Migrants'
 A Mexican government commission said Thursday it has suspended plans to distribute border maps to migrants planning to cross the border illegally, but denied the decision was a response to U.S. criticism. Miguel Angel Paredes, the spokesman for the federal Human Rights Commission, said the plan would be "rethought" because human rights officials in border states expressed concern that the maps would show anti-immigrant groups - like the so-called Minutemen civilian patrols - where migrants were likely to gather. The map dispute was the latest diplomatic row involving the U.S.-Mexico border, a sensitive issue between the neighboring nations. U.S. border states are fed up with illegal migration and drug trafficking and are pressuring the U.S. government to do more to protect the border - including a proposal to extend a wall along both countries' common frontier, something Mexico bitterly resents. Mexico is angry about U.S. civilian groups that have organized patrols along the U.S.-Mexico border, accusing them of carrying out attacks on migrants. However, there is little evidence of that, and the groups seldom - if ever - target water tanks or rescue beacons. One of the most well-known groups, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, placed a link to the maps on its Web site, but did not advocate using them to find illegal migrants. On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the United States opposes "in the strongest terms" plans to distribute the maps. Asked if the Mexican decision was a response to U.S. pressure, Paredes said: "No, we are not responding to that ... we have not taken that into account." The commission, a Mexican government-funded agency with independent powers, originally said it would print and pay for at least 70,000 maps showing highways, rescue beacons and water tanks in the Arizona desert. The posters were to have been distributed in border towns and through human rights offices in Mexico starting in March, when illegal border crossings are usually high. The commission denied the maps would encourage illegal immigration, saying instead they would help guide those in trouble. Now, the group will "seek other ways" of helping migrants, Paredes said. The posters were designed by the Tucson, Ariz.,-based rights group Humane Borders, which operates several desert water stations. The group previously distributed about 100 posters in the Mexican border town of Sasabe. Some of the posters have warnings, such as: "Don't go. There isn't enough water." However, officials conceded many migrants were unlikely to heed the advice. Posted by: Pappy 2006-01-26 |
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