BORDER NEWS

The administration of Mexican President Vicente Fox, who took office on December 1, has begun addressing immigration related concerns.  Fox has appointed Ernesto Ruffo to be in charge of border issues.  Ruffo has pledged to interrupt undocumented immigration to the US, using government officials to warn people of the risks if necessary.  He has also called for increased communications between Mexican law enforcement agencies to help crack down on immigrant smugglers.  Ruffo believes that the best way to stem undocumented immigration is to improve Mexico’s economic conditions.  He has promised to try to bring more jobs to northern industrial towns, and has said that he wants the maquiladoras, factories that assemble goods for export, which have been enormously successful under the North American Free Trade Agreement, to pay more taxes to help improve infrastructure in the towns where their workers lives.

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A group of Haitian nationals arrested in an INS sweep in mid-November and pegged for deportation based on human rights abuses committed while in Haiti are seeking to avoid deportation by arguing that they themselves will face persecution and torture if deported to Haiti.  They are pursuing claims under the United Nations Convention Against Torture that requires a country to provide protection to a person who faces torture regardless of their own involvement in human rights abuses.

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In anticipation of the annual post-holiday return of Mexican migrants to their jobs in the US, the Border Patrol is tightening security at key points along the border.  Near Douglas, Arizona, agents are welding together steel panels to make a wall along the border.  Crews are also working at improving roads for ease of transportation.  New video and infrared cameras are being installed as well.  Also, the Border Patrol expects to have 300 new agents assigned to the area between Douglas and Naco, Arizona, by the end of the year.  Last January, nearly 70,000 people were apprehended along the Arizona-Mexico border.

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An immigration inspector stationed at El Paso was recently arrested on charges of illegally selling arrival departure documents, commonly called an I-94.  Juan Guerrero, formerly a Border Patrol agent, was indicted along with several others for selling the documents for 0 each.  He faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted of all counts, which include one count of conspiracy, two counts of document fraud, one count of selling fraudulent documents and one count of misusing government seals.