Feature News Articles

Former Mexican Foreign Minister Demands Open Border for Migrants In Exchange for Cooperation on Security at Congressional Hearing

Members of U.S. Congress Offer No Reaction to Blackmail

On Tuesday (July 14), four days after the bombings on the London transit system refocused Congress and the American public on the threat of global terrorism, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that "No border security is possible without Mexican cooperation" and that "there can be no cooperation [from the Mexican government] without some sort of immigration reform package." Castaneda, now a professor at New York University, went on to describe immigration reform as amnesty for all Mexicans living illegally in the U.S., the admission of some 5 million additional Mexican citizens to the U.S. over the next ten years, and massive increases in U.S. aid to that country.

In exchange for the admission and legalization of millions of Mexicans, and billions of dollars in U.S. assistance, Castaneda said that Mexico would offer "tough" but "non-coercive" assistance in the effort to prevent terrorists from entering the U.S. via Mexico. Castaneda conceded that Mexico has lost control of its own southern border, and cannot verify the true identities of people to whom it has issued ID documents.

"Jorge Castaneda is not some obscure voice from Mexico's distant political past," observed Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "He served as foreign minister in the current Mexican administration. It is imperative that the Fox government issue a formal repudiation of Castaneda's remarks and assure the American public that their cooperation in the war against terrorism will not come at the price of extortion."

As disturbing as Castaneda's remarks were, the reaction of the senators to the extortion demands of a former top Mexican government official was even more disconcerting. Leading members of the Senate, including John McCain and Richard Lugar, seemingly accepted Castenada's demands for open borders as a legitimate price for even tepid Mexican cooperation in dealing with the terrorist threat.

"When anyone, much less a former foreign minister of a supposedly friendly nation, comes before a committee of the United States Senate, and issues ultimatums and thinly veiled threats against the United States, one would expect outrage and condemnation from members of Congress. Instead, we got meek acquiescence or deafening silence from the members who were present," said Stein. "If the government of Mexico is not prepared to join us in this struggle, without conditions, then they cannot claim to be an ally and our government must view them as such. Allies do not engage in extortion."

FAIR is calling upon the Bush Administration and Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice to formally protest Castaneda's demands with the Mexican government. "If Colin Powell were to make similarly outrageous demands in a foreign capital, we would expect a reply and repudiation from the American government. We should expect no less from the current government of Mexico," Stein said.