Homeland Security secretary says security of nation depends on it The Brownsville Herald
March 4, 2006 — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Friday stressed the importance of a guest worker program for the security of the nation during a visit to Brownsville.
“We are in the midst of a serious discussion about a guest worker program,” Chertoff said Friday at Alice Walker Hope Park, which is on the bank of the Rio Grande with a view of Gateway International Bridge. “Not as amnesty, not a reward, but a constructive mechanism to allow migrants in the U.S. to assume a strong labor demand.”
A mandatory identification card and background check would accompany any such program, Chertoff said, as part of a comprehensive plan to address border violence.
A guest worker program would allow U.S. law enforcement agencies to spend more time focusing on “dangerous” elements “we really worry about,” rather than on the many thousands of people who come to the country seeking work, Chertoff said.
Chertoff was accompanied by Mexican diplomats to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries.
Secretary of the Interior Carlos Abascal and Secretary of Public Safety Eduardo Medina Mora joined Chertoff to speak about the plan that aims to reduce border violence.
“Cooperation is what will allow us to resolve these issues,” Abascal said of the new agreement.
Abascal pointed to a 37 percent decrease in migrant deaths and a 27 percent decrease in illegal crossings along the Arizona-Sonora border as a shining example of binational agreements providing tangible results.
Two-thirds of all Mexican migrants cross through this region, said Pedro Espíndola Flores, the national director of the Mexican Border Patrol, Grupo Beta. Agreements between the two countries have reduced border violence and illegal activity along both sides of the border, Espíndola added.
There were fewer migrant deaths despite more crossings this year than in 2000, Espíndola said, and that is a prime example of a successful cooperation between law enforcement on both sides of the border.
Continued cooperation between the two countries will lead to new solutions to problems with border violence, Abascal said, but it would not “produce magic results.” Facing increasing violence by criminal and drug gangs requires a plan of action, Chertoff said. The recently signed memorandum of understanding will serve as the foundation for that plan, adding to the already budding relationship between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies.
In December 2005 the Border Patrol held an academy in Mexico to train officials there on search and rescue techniques. U.S. Customs officials also spent time training their Mexican counterparts with the aim to secure the border for the benefit of both sides, Chertoff said.