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<blockquote data-quote="Babagounj" data-source="post: 735296" data-attributes="member: 12952">Experts: Mexico harasses immigrants as it criticizes Arizona&nbsp; immigration law by Chris HawleyRepublic Mexico City Bureau&nbsp;TULTITLAN, Mexico -“There (in the United States), they’ll deport you,” Hector Vázquez,&nbsp; an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, said as he rested in a&nbsp; makeshift camp with other migrants under a highway bridge in Tultitlan.&nbsp; “In Mexico, they’ll probably let you go, but they’ll beat you up and&nbsp; steal everything you’ve got first.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Mexican authorities have harshly criticized Arizona over Senate Bill&nbsp; 1070, which makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It&nbsp; states that an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest&nbsp; shall, when practicable, ask about a person’s legal status when&nbsp; reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally.&nbsp;“(The law) violates inalienable human rights,” the Mexican Foreign&nbsp; Ministry says.&nbsp;Meanwhile, Mexican police freely engage in racial profiling,&nbsp; harassing Central American migrants while ignoring thousands of American&nbsp; retirees living illegally in Mexico, immigration experts say.Mexico already has an Arizona-style statute requiring local police to&nbsp; check IDs. That clause has fed an epidemic of kidnappings, rapes and&nbsp; other atrocities against migrants because victims are afraid to talk to&nbsp; police, Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission says.But human-rights activists say abuses have continued unabated.&nbsp;“The Mexican government should probably clean up its own house before&nbsp; looking at someone else’s,” said Melissa Vertíz, spokeswoman for the&nbsp; Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center in Tapachula, Mexico.&nbsp;Dangerous territory&nbsp;In one six-month period from September 2008 to February 2009, at&nbsp; least 9,758 migrants were kidnapped and held for ransom in Mexico, 91 of&nbsp; them with the direct participation of Mexican police, a report by the&nbsp; National Human Rights Commission says. Other migrants are routinely&nbsp; stopped and shaken down for bribes, it says.&nbsp;A separate survey conducted during one month in 2008 at 10 migrant&nbsp; shelters showed Mexican authorities were behind migrant attacks in 35 of&nbsp; 240 cases, or 15 percent. Most of the abuses against migrants are&nbsp; committed by gangs and migrant smugglers.In 2008, the Mexican government softened the punishment for&nbsp; undocumented migrants, from a maximum 10 years in prison to a maximum&nbsp; fine of $461. Most detainees are simply taken to detention centers and&nbsp; put on buses for home.&nbsp;Mexican law calls for six to 12 years of prison and up to $46,000 in&nbsp; fines for anyone who shelters or transports illegal immigrants, but the&nbsp; nation’s Supreme Court ruled in March 2008 that the law applies only to&nbsp; people who do it for money.Article 67 of Mexico’s immigration law requires that all authorities,&nbsp; “whether federal, local or municipal,” demand to see visas if approached&nbsp; by a foreigner, and to hand over any undocumented migrants to&nbsp; immigration authorities.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Babagounj, post: 735296, member: 12952"] [B]Experts: Mexico harasses immigrants as it criticizes Arizona immigration law[/B] [B]by Chris Hawley Republic Mexico City Bureau[/B] [B]TULTITLAN, Mexico - [/B]“There (in the United States), they’ll deport you,” Hector Vázquez, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, said as he rested in a makeshift camp with other migrants under a highway bridge in Tultitlan. “In Mexico, they’ll probably let you go, but they’ll beat you up and steal everything you’ve got first.” Mexican authorities have harshly criticized Arizona over Senate Bill 1070, which makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It states that an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest shall, when practicable, ask about a person’s legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally. “(The law) violates inalienable human rights,” the Mexican Foreign Ministry says. Meanwhile, Mexican police freely engage in racial profiling, harassing Central American migrants while ignoring thousands of American retirees living illegally in Mexico, immigration experts say. Mexico already has an Arizona-style statute requiring local police to check IDs. That clause has fed an epidemic of kidnappings, rapes and other atrocities against migrants because victims are afraid to talk to police, Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission says. But human-rights activists say abuses have continued unabated. “The Mexican government should probably clean up its own house before looking at someone else’s,” said Melissa Vertíz, spokeswoman for the Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center in Tapachula, Mexico. Dangerous territory In one six-month period from September 2008 to February 2009, at least 9,758 migrants were kidnapped and held for ransom in Mexico, 91 of them with the direct participation of Mexican police, a report by the National Human Rights Commission says. Other migrants are routinely stopped and shaken down for bribes, it says. A separate survey conducted during one month in 2008 at 10 migrant shelters showed Mexican authorities were behind migrant attacks in 35 of 240 cases, or 15 percent. Most of the abuses against migrants are committed by gangs and migrant smugglers. In 2008, the Mexican government softened the punishment for undocumented migrants, from a maximum 10 years in prison to a maximum fine of $461. Most detainees are simply taken to detention centers and put on buses for home. Mexican law calls for six to 12 years of prison and up to $46,000 in fines for anyone who shelters or transports illegal immigrants, but the nation’s Supreme Court ruled in March 2008 that the law applies only to people who do it for money. Article 67 of Mexico’s immigration law requires that all authorities, “whether federal, local or municipal,” demand to see visas if approached by a foreigner, and to hand over any undocumented migrants to immigration authorities. [/QUOTE]

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