Mexican lawmakers cross U.S. border to show support for U.S. immigration bill

2003-11-06 San Francisco Chronicle

(11-06) 11:38 PST MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) --

Nine Mexican lawmakers crossed the U.S. border with a group of runners carrying a torch celebrating Mexico's patron saint Wednesday night to show their support for a U.S. bill that would make it easier for undocumented migrants to gain American legal status.

One legislator from each of the nine parties that hold seats in Mexico's Congress crossed from Matamoros to Brownsville, Texas, with a group carrying the torch of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which left Mexico City on Oct. 12 and is scheduled to arrive in New York City on Dec. 12, Virgin of Guadalupe day in Mexico.

Each Dec. 12, tens of thousands pack Mexico City's Basilica of Guadalupe to commemorate the day in 1531 when, according to legend, the dark-skinned virgin appeared to a poor Indian, Juan Diego and left her image imprinted on his cloak.

The lawmakers joined the torch for the border-crossing portion of its annual trek, which is organized by a group of Mexican nationals living in New York.

"We are asking for respect for our countrymen in the United States, the same respect we give those who cross their country's southern border," said Maria Guadalupe Suarez, a legislator from President Vicente Fox's National Action Party.

The lawmakers said they crossed the border to show their support for the Border Security and Immigration Improvement Act, a measure introduced in July by Republican U.S. Reps. Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, both of Arizona.

The measure would provide an amnesty for some of the millions undocumented migrants living and working in the United States by creating two visa categories -- one for foreign workers living outside the United States, the other for undocumented migrants living in America.

The new visas would extend greater rights and protection from abusive employers to undocumented migrants already in the United States while making it easier for migrants abroad to enter the United States without attempting often-deadly border crossings. The measure would also go a long way toward filling labor shortages in industries often ignored by the U.S. work force because of low-pay, according to a statement released by Kolbe.

A similar measure was introduced in the Senate by John McCain, R-Ariz.

©2003 Associated Press

Source:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/11/06/international1438EST6285.DTL