A group of House Republicans is urging Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to protest the government of Mexico's encouragement of illegal immigration when she meets with Mexican officials this week.

A strongly worded letter signed by 32 House members condemned Mexico's immigration policies and urged Sec. Rice to "call on the government of Mexico to cease and desist from its flagrant campaign to encourage its citizens to violate the immigration laws and sovereign borders of the United States of America."

"We have taken this action in an effort to preserve and strengthen the strong ties and mutually beneficial relationship between our two countries," said U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who authored the letter, "but enough is enough. We want the government of Mexico to understand that its aggressive encouragement of illegal immigration is a daunting if not insurmountable barrier to continued good relations."

The House members pointed to recent statistics covering only the Arizona-Mexico border that demonstrate the enormity of the problem. "In FY 2004, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 1,139,282 people - 3,121 each day - trying to cross the southwest border, up from 905,065 in FY 2003. If the Border Patrol is catching 1 in every 4, then approximately 9,364 illegal immigrants are crossing the southwest border every day!"

"Mexico's long-standing invasion of America - of the estimated 10 million illegal aliens in the U.S., seventy percent are Mexicans undermines U.S. workers, creates a permanent underclass of employees in this country, and burdens local, state and federal taxpayers with the enormous costs associated with providing services such as education, emergency health care, and law enforcement. And as you are well aware, this invasion of illegal immigrants provides a diversionary cover for both drug smugglers and terrorists to enter the United States," the House members stated in their letter, which was delivered today to the Secretary of State.

"We urge you to make it clear to the Mexican government that our relationship cannot continue to deteriorate into a one-way affair. Not content with the opportunities for economic advancement that were promised by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico has sponsored an illicit economic scheme by encouraging Mexicans to work illegally in the U.S. and bolster the Mexican economy with remittances to their families back home. This scheme is expected to yield an estimated $17 billion, which represents the second largest revenue stream for that country behind only the state-owned oil industry."

The Congressmen said recent official publications in Mexico illustrate the government's encouragement of illegal immigration.

"Most recently, the state of Yucatan has published an 80-page "travel guide" with detailed information on how to enter the U.S. illegally, including descriptions of various routes to be used or avoided. The Mexican government has also published its own advisory to illegal immigrants. The booklet, entitled "Guide to the Mexican Migrant," offers similar advice, including how to evade immigration officers once in the U.S.," the House members wrote.

(Text of letter follows.)

March 2, 2005

The Honorable Condoleeza Rice
Secretary of State
2201 C St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Secretary Rice:

The recent state-sponsored publication of explicit travel guides and instructions for Mexicans on how to enter the United States illegally is the latest example of a hostile, anti-American position adopted by the government of Mexico.

In an effort to preserve and strengthen the strong ties and mutually beneficial relationship between our two countries, we urge during the course of your meetings later this week with Mexican officials that you call on the government of Mexico to cease and desist from its flagrant campaign to encourage its citizens to violate the immigration laws and sovereign borders of the United States of America.

The following statistics covering only the Arizona-Mexico border quantify the enormity of the problem. In FY 2004 the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 1,139,282 people - 3,121 each day - trying to cross the southwest border, up from 905,065 in FY 2003. If the Border Patrol is catching 1 in every 4, then approximately 9,364 illegal immigrants are crossing the southwest border every day!

Mexico's long-standing invasion of America - of the estimated 10 million illegal aliens in the U.S., seventy percent are Mexicans undermines U.S. workers, creates a permanent underclass of employees in this country, and burdens local, state and federal taxpayers with the enormous costs associated with providing services such as education, emergency health care, and law enforcement. And as you are well aware, this invasion of illegal immigrants provides a diversionary cover for both drug smugglers and terrorists to enter the United States.

Most recently, the state of Yucatan has published an 80-page "travel guide" (copy enclosed) with detailed information on how to enter the U.S. illegally, including descriptions of various routes to be used or avoided. The Mexican government has also published its own advisory to illegal immigrants. The booklet, entitled "Guide to the Mexican Migrant," offers similar advice, including how to evade immigration officers once in the U.S.

America has been a generous and good neighbor to Mexico. We urge you to make it clear to the Mexican government that our relationship cannot continue to deteriorate into a one-way affair. Not content with the opportunities for economic advancement that were promised by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico has sponsored an illicit economic scheme by encouraging Mexicans to work illegally in the U.S. and bolster the Mexican economy with remittances to their families back home. This scheme is expected to yield an estimated $17 billion, which represents the second largest revenue stream for that country behind only the state-owned oil industry.

Mexico should be made to understand that its aggressive encouragement of illegal immigration is quickly eroding the support this Congress has for our good neighbor policies and is a daunting if not insurmountable - barrier to consideration of a guest-worker plan.

We hope you will make it clear that if Mexico is to be considered a good neighbor and eligible to reap the benefits of that status, it must work with the United States to develop economic and immigration policies that would be mutually beneficial, rather than seek to undermine our laws, public safety, economy and culture, to say nothing of our long-standing relationship and generosity.

We look forward to your positive response and timely action.

Sincerely,

List of Signatures:
Representative J.D. Hayworth (AZ), Representative John Duncan Jr. (TN), Representative Ginny Brown-Waite (FL), Representative Walter B. Jones (NC), Representative Tom Tancredo (CO), Representative Trent Franks (AZ), Representative Mike Simpson (ID), Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (CA), Representative Charlie Norwood (GA), Representative Rick Renzi (AZ), Representative Virginia Foxx (NC), Representative Gil Gutknecht (MN), Representative Phil Gingrey (GA), Representative Darrell Issa (CA), Representative Sam Johnson (TX), Representative Steve King (IA), Representative Bill Shuster (PA), Representative Roscoe Bartlett (MD), Representative K. Michael Conaway (TX), Representative Lynn Westmoreland (GA), Representative Virgil Goode (VA), Representative Ed Royce (CA), Representative Nancy Johnson (CT), Representative Wally Herger (CA), Representative Dana Rohrabacher (CA), Representative Sue Kelly (NY), Representative Jack Kingston (GA), Representative Ron Lewis (KY), Representative Mark Foley (FL), Representative Bob Beauprez (CO), Representative Dave Camp (MI), Representative Jo Ann Davis (VA).