U.S. Ambassador To Mexico Criticizes Border Wall Proposal And Anti-Trade 'Populism'

MEXICO CITY — Erecting a 2,000-mile-long wall along the United States' southern border or taking similar measures are unrealistic solutions to illegal immigration, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza said Thursday.

"President Bush is working with the Congress to reform our immigration laws, and to create a new structure that benefits immigrants who want to work, their families, and the employers who hire them," Garza said at a meeting with Texas reporters in Mexico.

"The president," Garza added, "is aware of the concerns of critics who would like to build a wall around the United States. As the former governor of Texas, he knows that such proposals are both unrealistic and undesirable."

Last week Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., introduced legislation calling for the construction, from the Pacific coast to the Gulf of Mexico, of a double-walled high-tech security fence outfitted with lights and sensors.

Hunter is the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Although there is no official price tag for the cost of the proposed wall, unofficial estimates range from $2 billion to $8 billion.

The Republican Party is split over how to deal with illegal immigration. One camp calls for aggressive deportations or sealing off the southern border with Mexico, while another wants to adopt guest-worker legislation to match foreign workers to employers and supply them with legal visas.

Since taking office in 2001, Bush has said he would favor a guest-worker program. He joined Mexican President Vicente Fox in declaring that the United States and Mexico are mutually dependent on immigrant labor.

Garza, a friend of Bush and a Mexican-American from Texas, echoed that sentiment.

"Looking at the big picture," he said, "I believe we should, rather than retrenching into the isolationism that tempts some, build upon our relationships with our Latin American neighbors."

An attorney and former Texas railroad commissioner, Garza said the United States shares "common goals" with Mexico and the rest of Latin America, including the reduction of poverty, "the obvious need to fight terrorism" and the promotion of free trade.

Free trade is controversial in Latin America, however, and so far the Bush administration has failed to persuade key countries, including Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela, to sign off on the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, the FTAA.

Bush was met with street protests in Argentina on Nov. 4-5 at the fourth Summit of the Americas, where heads of state discussed the FTAA, which would lower tariffs on goods and restrictions on foreign investment throughout the hemisphere.

At the summit, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez joined in protests to denounce the FTAA as a vehicle for U.S. corporations to dominate Latin America.

"Populist rhetoric will not bring wealth and employment to the western hemisphere," Garza said. "Free trade will. Those who claim that free trade is some ideological weapon forced upon them by President Bush are simply not credible."

He said countries that expressed reservations about an FTAA questioned the timing of such an agreement instead of the relative merits of free trade. "Take a look at Europe and the high-performing Asian economies. They also know the benefits of free trade and are working actively to implement free-trade agreements," he said.