Wire services El Universal January 05, 2006 Mexican lawmakers will ask their U.S. counterparts to move up a scheduled meeting on immigration to February from March, Mexico´s speaker of the lower house of Congress said.
Congressman Heliodoro Díaz said Mexican senators and representatives will form a joint committee to lobby the U.S. Senate to reject a bill, approved by the U.S. House on Dec. 16, that calls for adding 700 miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"One of the first tasks would be to move up the date, to not wait until March for the inter-parliamentary meeting," Díaz said in a telephone interview in Mexico City.
Mexican congressmen will seek support from legislators across Latin America to pressure the U.S. to drop plans to expand the fence, Díaz said.
President Vicente Fox has lobbied the U.S. to approve a guest worker program that allows Mexicans to live and work in the U.S. temporarily, a program not included in the House bill.
"International public opinion is important to induce decisions different from the simple decision to criminalize immigration," Díaz said.
About 400,000 Mexicans cross into the U.S. each year, according the United Nations, to seek jobs that pay more than five times higher than in Mexico.