Mexico City – Mexico uses the same methods to deal with migrants – mainly from Central America – that it opposes in the United States, human rights officials here said Wednesday.
The admission comes as Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez called on Latin American countries to unite against a U.S. House bill to toughen border enforcement.
The bill, which passed Friday with a 239-182 vote, would make illegal entry a felony, and enlist military and local police to help stop undocumented migrants.
But officials of Mexico’s federal Human Rights Commission said Mexico uses both measures on its own territory.
Mexico’s “population law does include prison terms for illegally entering the country … and this is something that has been the subject of constant complaints,” said Mauricio Farah, a national inspector for the rights commission.
According to Article 123 of Mexico’s Population Law “foreigners illegally entering the country will be subject to punishment of up to two years in prison” and fines up to $28,200 (U.S.). Such prison sentences are rarely imposed.
Jose Luis Soberanes, president of the rights commission, said Mexico uses government agencies like the police and the military to detain undocumented migrants, even though Mexican law technically does not allow that.
The commission also acknowledged that Mexico mistreats many migrants – mostly Central Americans heading to the United States – and called for improvements.
Still, Soberanes slammed another provision of the U.S. immigration bill that would build 700 miles of additional fences or walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, calling it absurd.
Derbez said he plans to travel to Washington next week to discuss the matter with Robert Zoellick, the State Department’s No. 2 official.
During a regional energy summit earlier this month in Cancun, Derbez said Mexico asked the governments of Central America, Colombia and the Dominican Republic to join the fight against the proposed measures, saying “we should have one voice.” The human rights commission also presented a report on Wednesday that found overcrowding and bad conditions at about three-quarters of Mexico’s 51 immigration detention centers and 68 other holding facilities.
The facilities often lack working bathrooms, blankets, sleeping mats, adequate food and medical care. Many detainees are forced to sleep on floors, and some holding areas lack the space to separate women and children, or detainees with infectious diseases.
Migrants are also held in such stations too long, Soberanes said. The commission urged the government to improve conditions and set clear standards for such facilities.
“One of the saddest national failings on immigration issues,” Soberanes said, “is the contradiction in demanding that the North (the United States) respect migrants’ rights, which we are not capable of guaranteeing in the South,” along Mexico’s border with Guatemala.
