Mexican Commission to Give Migrants Maps

[Ryan Ruck]

Mexican Commission to Give Migrants Maps

MEXICO CITY - A Mexican government commission said Tuesday it will distribute at least 70,000 maps showing highways, rescue beacons and water tanks in the Arizona desert to curb the death toll among illegal border crossers.

The National Human Rights Commission, a government-funded agency with independent powers, denied the maps — similar to a comic-style guide booklet Mexico distributed last year — would encourage illegal immigration.

Officials said the maps would help guide those in trouble find rescue beacons and areas with cell phone reception. The maps will also show the distance a person can walk in the desert in a single day.

"We are not trying in any way to encourage or promote migration," said Mauricio Farah, one of the commission's national inspectors. "The only thing we are trying to do is warn them of the risks they face and where to get water, so they don't die."

Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the U.S.
Homeland Security Department, questioned whether the maps would keep those crossing the border safer.

"It is not helpful for anyone, no matter how well intended they might be, to produce road maps that lead aliens into the desolate and dangerous areas along the border, and potentially invite criminal activity, human exploitation and personal risk," he said.

And some advocates of greater immigration control were irritated by the map announcement.

"What's next? Are they going to buy them bus tickets to Chicago?" said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank. "It's clearly a bad thing for Mexico to be encouraging illegal immigration."

The comic booklet for migrants was distributed by the government in early 2005 and warned of the perils of crossing illegally into the United States, while offering tips to stay safe.

The booklet, of which about 1.5 million were printed, enraged some advocates of stricter immigration policies in the United States who argue that it encouraged illegal migration.

Farah said his commission was simply trying to prevent deaths and estimated that around 500 Mexicans died trying to cross the border in 2005. Many die in the desert, where summer temperatures soar above 100 degrees, and many drown while attempting to cross the Rio Grande river.

The commission plans to hang the poster-size maps in March in places where migrants will see them, such as migrant-aid groups, the commission's offices and in Mexican border towns.

They were designed by the Tucson, Ariz.-based rights group Humane Borders, which operates some of the desert water stations. The group previously distributed about 100 posters in the Mexican border town of Sasabe.

The Rev. Robin Hoover, president of Humane Borders, said maps are needed in southern Mexico so migrants can weigh the risks before leaving home.

Some of the posters have warnings, such as "Don't go. There isn't enough water," but officials conceded many migrants were unlikely to heed the advice.

Knocke said the United States had increased personnel and surveillance along the border to discourage illegal crossings and immigrant smugglers.

"Our message should be clear: we are securing our borders and we're dramatically increasing the likelihood of apprehensions," he said.

Farah said migration "is a human right" and that "the United States should be grateful" the commission is doing something to curb the death toll, because "hundreds of thousands of Mexicans help maintain their economy."

Mexicans working in the United States are a huge source of revenue for Mexico, sending home more than $16 billion in remittances in 2004, Mexico's second largest source of foreign currency after oil exports according to the country's central bank.

This poster released by the Humane Borders group on Tuesday Jan. 24, 2006, shows a map with migrant deaths (red dots) on the Arizona desert and warns that crossing through the desert is extremely dangerous. Mexico's National Commission for Human Rights has agreed to print and distribute these warning posters and maps as a way of informing migrants of the actual dangers in the desert and as a way of assisting migrants in making responsible decisions.

[Aplomb]

Oh, wait, what if these maps can also be used by the minutemen... http://www.dailybulletin.com/portlet...rticle=3441120 Mexico backs off on map giveaways

By Mark Stevenson, Associated Press , Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

MEXICO CITY - A Mexican government commission said Thursday it has suspended plans to distribute border maps to migrants planning to cross the border illegally, but denied the decision was a response to U.S. criticism. Related story: Mexican government commission to give away border crossing maps Miguel Angel Paredes, the spokesman for the federal Human Rights Commission, said the plan would be "rethought" because human rights officials in border states expressed concern that the maps would show anti-immigrant groups such as the so-called Minutemen civilian patrols where migrants were likely to gather. "This would be practically like telling the Minutemen where the migrants are going to be," Paredes said. "We are going to rethink this, so that we wouldn't almost be handing them over to groups that attack migrants." Mexico is angry about U.S. civilian groups that have organized patrols along the U.S.-Mexico border, accusing them of carrying out attacks on migrants, accusations the groups deny. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps said it intended to use the maps to stake out likely entry points for illegal immigrants. "If they're going to give out maps, we're going to use those maps to report that activity to the proper authorities," said Chris Simcox, a co-founder of the group. But Simcox said his group already knows the locations of many watering spots and criticized the Mexican government for trying to "vilify" his group. He said volunteer reports of migrant activity had helped rescuers locate and save migrants in danger. The map dispute was the latest diplomatic row involving the U.S.-Mexico border, a sensitive issue between the neighboring nations. U.S. border states are fed up with illegal migration and drug trafficking and are pressuring the U.S. government to do more to protect the border including a proposal to extend a wall along both countries' common frontier, something Mexico bitterly resents. On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the United States opposes "in the strongest terms" plans to distribute the maps. Asked if the Mexican decision was a response to U.S. pressure, Paredes said: "No, we are not responding to that. ... We have not taken that into account." However, Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez sought to distance the Mexican government from the maps. "We are not involved in the production or distribution of these famous maps, nor much less in the whole process," Derbez said. The commission, a Mexican government-funded agency with independent powers, originally said it would print and pay for at least 70,000 maps showing highways, rescue beacons and water tanks in the Arizona desert. The posters were to have been distributed in border towns and through human rights offices in Mexico starting in March, when illegal border crossings are usually high. The commission denied the maps would encourage illegal immigration, saying instead they would help guide those in trouble. Now, the group will "seek other ways" of helping migrants, Paredes said. The posters were designed by the Tucson, Ariz.,-based rights group Humane Borders, which operates several desert water stations. The group previously distributed about 100 posters in the Mexican border town of Sasabe. Some of the posters have warnings, such as: "Don't go. There isn't enough water." However, officials conceded many migrants were unlikely to heed the advice. Chertoff's condemnation of the maps was categorical. "It is a bad idea to encourage migrants to undertake this highly dangerous and ultimately futile effort," Chertoff said. "This effort will entice more people to cross, leading to more migrant deaths and the further enrichment of the criminal human trafficking rings that prey on the suffering of others." AP Writer Bob Christie in Phoenix, Arizona contributed to this report.