US Features
US lawmakers envision subsidizing Mexico\'s border security
By Klaus Marre
May 3, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Washington - In order to prevent more illegal immigrants from entering the country, US lawmakers say they could envision providing Mexico with economic incentives if the country does more to protect the common border.

Border protection is one of the most important pieces of the immigration reform plans that Congress is considering. Proposals to achieve this goal include doubling the number of border patrol personnel, erecting new fences totalling more than 1,000 kilometres in length, and creating a \'virtual wall\' that relies on electronic means to monitor the border.

The proposals come amidst growing political pressure on Congress to resolve the problem of 11 million illegal immigrants, many of them from south of the US border. Weeks of mass demonstrations by Hispanic immigrants, including huge marches on Monday, have brought the issue to the forefront of public debate.

But key lawmakers told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that one way to help secure the border would be to provide Mexico with an economic incentive to stop illegal immigrants before they ever reach the US.

\'Setting up some up some kind of economic package is absolutely something that we should look at,\' said Senator John Ensign, a Republican from Nevada.

He noted that illegal immigration is very expensive for many states, especially those close to the border like his own. For example, they have to pay additional costs for law enforcement, some social services and schools.

\'I don\'t think anybody thinks that Mexico is doing enough to protect its side of the border,\' Ensign said, adding the southern US neighbour has to do more to prevent illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

Other lawmakers are open to the idea of giving Mexico funds to do its part.

\'I would be glad to provide them with any incentive possible, but the problem is corruption,\' said Senator John McCain, a Republican from the border state of Arizona. \'I hate to be so blunt about it but that is the problem.\'

Mexico has to address the problem itself, but it has to be \'motivated to do so,\' McCain said.

While several lawmakers said the US cannot tackle the problem alone, Senator Barack Obama, a member of the opposition Democrats, told dpa there might not be another choice.

\'Given the difficulties of sealing borders generally, and given that Mexico has fewer resources than we do, I wouldn\'t rely on Mexico for our border security,\' Obama said. \'We\'re going have to do it largely ourselves.\'

However, he added that providing Mexico with money to step up border security might make the job for the US easier.

Senator Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, said he was encouraged that Mexican presidential candidates called for better border security.

\'If they are not willing to do that, then I\'m sure none of this is going to work,\' Dodd said with regard to US plans to better protect its border. He noted that Mexico favours a US guest worker programme, which would allow thousands of its citizens to work in the US.

\'If they are really interested in a guest worker programme, then they really have to step up to the plate on border security,\' Dodd said.

In the short-term, the lawmaker said the US could help Mexico protect its side of their mutual border, as well as its southern border, where thousands of immigrants from Central America enter on their way to the US.

But in the long run, the US would have to help Mexico to prosper so that millions of people would not seek to come to the US. He pointed to EU development of its poorer member states as an example of how this could be achieved.

\'If people in Mexico feel that they have a bright future and economic opportunity there, the necessity of going across the border goes away,\' Dodd told dpa.