PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Friday, August 29, 1997

Mexican consuls decry potential rights abuses under border crackdown

By KELLEY SHANNON / Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- In response to a new crackdown on illegal immigration along the Texas border, Mexican consuls from throughout South Texas met Thursday and warned the policy may lead to human rights abuses.

"We are worried about what kind of effects measures such as these might have and the general atmosphere at the border," said Enrique Loaeza Tovar, Mexico's coordinator of consular affairs.

Border crackdowns in populous areas shift the immigration flow to more deserted regions where immigrants' rights may not be protected, Loaeza said.

"We want this message to trickle down in a way that every agent, every individual, every single person involved in implementation of this operation should have it with him and behave in a way that shows respect to the dignity and to the rights of our fellow countrymen," Loaeza said.

Loaeza is presiding over a two-day closed-door meeting of Mexican consuls called by his country's foreign ministry as Operation Rio Grande got under way this week in Brownsville.

More Border Patrol agents are now on duty in downtown Brownsville and along a 2-1/2-mile section of the Rio Grande south of downtown.

Although the 10 consuls meeting in San Antonio are not calling for an end to Operation Rio Grande, they said they hope to continue talks with U.S. officials about the impact of the policy.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service insists it has tried to allay Mexican officials' fears about the border initiative and rejects the notion that human rights abuses will grow under the new program.

"We don't anticipate that there's going to be any increase in allegations against the Border Patrol. Our presence is enhanced, but our procedures are not changing," said INS spokesman Mario Ortiz.

Stepped-up border patrols also may suggest immigrants are criminals and incite anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States, Loaeza said.

"We all know that the reason why our migrants come to the United States is economic," he said.

"They don't come to the United States to commit crimes. They come to work and through their work to contribute to the prosperity of the communities where they reside."