Mexico expects deportations under new bill

An estimated 460,000 undocumented migrants, most of them Mexican, live in the U.S. state of Arizona, where the law proposed by Governor Jan Brewer aims to make illegal immigration a crime and penalize anyone helping undocumented workers.

Hours after federal judge Susan Bolton blocked parts of the law, which is opposed by the Barack Obama administration, Brewer vowed to appeal and take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

Inhabitants of Arizona's neighboring Mexican state of Sonora have prepared for a mass return of Mexicans, who traditionally travel northwards for work, when the law is due to take effect on July 29.

State governor Guillermo Padres this week visited hostels along the border.

In Nogales, Mexico, across from the U.S. border city of the same name, Padres said schools had also made extra room.

“No one knows how many people will come. There's a good chance there'll be lots of Mexicans. We'll all going to be prepared,” Padres said.

Workers in hostels in the city of more than 200,000 inhabitants said they had already planned for a wave of returning compatriots.

“We're prepared to receive 350 people and we've contacted transport companies to cheaply take people to their home towns,” Francisco Luvreiro, director of the Juan Bosco hostel, told AFP.

The Mexican Congress welcomed the decision and said it would carefully follow the process to definitively suspend the law.

The law “promotes intolerance and sows resentment between people and neighboring countries that are friends and business partners,” said a joint statement signed by lawmakers from all parties.

Mexican authorities have multiplied resources in consulates across the US state to help Mexicans affected by the law.

The National Human Rights Commission said it would send inspectors to crossings along the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) border where deportations might take place.

It deplored the fact that the U.S. states of Florida, Michigan, Alabama, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Texas also supported the Arizona law.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email