A bill that would toughen U.S. immigration enforcement is "wrong" and U.S. groups should lobby against it, Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said on Monday. The bill, sponsored by Republican Representative James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, passed the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. It would make undocumented migration, now a civil offense, a federal crime.
"We are trying with great force to avoid" passage of the bill, Derbez told a local radio station, according to a transcript of the interview supplied by his office.
"It appears wrong to us, because it is a bill that tries to deal with migration issues judicially, with control measures," Derbez said.
Mexico has long opposed treating undocumented migrants as criminals, and espouses a broad approach to migration that would provide legal means for migrants to work in the United States.
"This type of law that builds walls, puts more people on border patrols, or hardens the sanctions against those who hire an undocumented person, doesn´t lead to adequate solutions," Derbez said.
He said that during meetings last week with business groups in Chicago he suggested that business, community or church groups oppose the measure.
"Speaking with them (businessmen), speaking with the Catholic Church on the issue´s social aspect, of the impact on their communities, we´re trying to get them to make themselves heard and lobby in the Senate and in the U.S. Congress," Derbez said.
The bill may go to a vote in the full House next week before Congress adjourns for the year.
The 169-page bill goes beyond increasing border patrol agents and equipment to enlist military support in border surveillance and reimburse local law enforcement in border areas for assistance in combatting alien smuggling and illegal entry.
It requires the U.S. Homeland Security Department to detain until removal all who try to enter the country illegally and sets new mandatory minimum sentences on smugglers and people convicted of re-entry after removal.
Three drunken-driving convictions would become a deportable offense for legal immigrants.
All employers in the country would be required to participate in a verification system under which the government would confirm that a worker or a job applicant has legal status.
