Thank You, Mexico City, but . . .

The Mexican government agreed Wednesday to help the U.S. government out of the Chinese refugee jam off the coast of Baja California by letting the Coast Guard escort three Chinese refugee ships to the Mexican coast. That was a wise humanitarian decision--but both the Clinton Administration and Congress must realize that this kind of problem is of the United States’ own making.

Conditions aboard the three ships bearing Chinese refugees who were detained before they could be illegally put ashore are getting more squalid by the day. But U.S. officials want to keep the Chinese away from U.S. territory; because of a huge loophole in U.S. law, the second they touch down on U.S. soil all are potentially eligible for political asylum.

And that, given the delays and confusion in current U.S. asylum procedures, would mean that most would be able to stay in this country for years. Also, it is feared, that would encourage many more refugee ships to set sail.

Mexico decided to help because of the deteriorating conditions aboard the refugee vessels. But the government understandably rejected the U.S. request to allow its immigration officers to set up its asylum interviews in Mexico--and rejected the U.S. offer to reimburse Mexico for the repatriation cost of sending the Chinese ships back.

For Mexican officials, the political implications of cooperating with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service--an unpopular agency that annually deports thousands of Mexicans trying to migrate north--cannot be underestimated. Although the incident did not get the attention the current one has, 300 Chinese immigrants were detained in Baja last April. While some escaped Mexican custody and got across the U.S. border, most were repatriated to China in a costly effort that wound up causing the Mexican government domestic political embarrassment.

The United States cannot go on putting friendly governments in this kind of box. For better or worse, the Chinese refugees are a U.S. problem, created because of loopholes in this country’s asylum procedures. The problem must be fixed in Washington, not Mexico City or on the high seas. The White House should thank Mexico for bailing it out this time, and Congress must change asylum law so that fewer foreigners will be tempted to abuse them.