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Jones Seeks to Curb Immigration by Expanding Economy in Mexico

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Times Staff Writer

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bill Jones proposed federal incentives Monday to create jobs in Mexico and help reduce the economic motive propelling illegal immigration.

Jones, revisiting a theme of his campaign, argued that a porous border with Mexico threatens national security and called for a sharp increase in the number of border patrol agents, completion of a stalled border fence project north of Tijuana and creation of a guest-worker program for U.S. industries facing labor shortages.

But the linchpin of Jones’ proposals was using U.S. incentives to help Mexico expand its economy. Jones said the incentives should be paired with a Mexican anti-corruption campaign and initiatives to improve its educational system to create a higher-caliber workforce for economic expansion south of the border.

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“The jobs are the magnet,” Jones said, speaking to reporters across from the Mexican consulate in downtown Los Angeles. “Until you deal with it in this way ... you probably can’t put enough people on the border.”

Jones said the U.S. has used incentives with other countries when seeking cooperation on defense and trade issues. But he offered no specifics on the types of incentives he would support for Mexico, beyond creating a guest-worker program.

“There are no shortages of ways,” Jones said.

Jones again accused incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of ignoring border security, an accusation Boxer’s campaign has rebutted with a list of votes Boxer has cast to provide more immigration officers, speed the deportation of illegal immigrants and increase penalties for those convicted of smuggling undocumented people into the U.S.

Boxer spokesman Roy Behr called Jones’ proposals “just a list of things that would be nice if they happened. Of course everyone would like for the Mexican economy to be better, but that’s hardly a policy proposal. I do think it’s noteworthy that he has now spent more time talking about the Mexican economy and educational system than about the California economy and educational system.”

Jones also criticized a California Coastal Commission ruling earlier this year that barred fence building and patrols in ecologically sensitive areas of the U.S.-Mexico border near the Pacific Ocean, arguing that national security should take precedence.

“But a fence alone is not going to resolve the issue,” Jones said. “The goal here should be to incentivize Mexico to generate more jobs. They have lost 1.2 million jobs in the last three years. It takes about 800,000 new jobs a year in Mexico just to be able to absorb the new people who need work.”

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Jones described NAFTA as “a great success to the degree that it’s worked,” including the blossoming of maquiladoras, factories along the border.

But he said the disparity between U.S. and Mexican wages was a matter for the Mexican government to tackle -- with U.S. help.

“We need to do everything we can to encourage Mexico to do its share, to be a full partner in this process,” Jones said.

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