Mexico to Send Back Chinese Held at Sea

Ending a weeklong diplomatic stalemate, Mexican government officials reversed themselves Wednesday and agreed to accept and repatriate 658 Chinese immigrants being held at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard off the Baja California coast.

The decision to allow three smuggling vessels to dock is a humanitarian gesture in response to grave conditions aboard the crowded, dirty ships, a top Mexican diplomat said at a midday news conference in Mexico City.

Mexico’s subsecretary for foreign affairs, Andres Rozental, cited the “critical state . . . of more than 600 human beings abandoned practically to their fate on the high seas, whose physical integrity and health conditions are seriously threatened.”

The Coast Guard has been holding the Chinese, who were ultimately bound for the United States, for eight days. Last week, Coast Guard personnel intercepted and boarded the ships about 70 miles west of the Baja California peninsula, the smugglers’ reported destination.

The breakthrough came after several days in which Mexican officials had insisted that they would not accept a request by the Clinton Administration to take the immigrants into custody and send them back to China at U.S. expense.

As part of a tough new policy against a wave of seagoing illegal immigration from China, the Administration requested Mexico’s help in preventing the Chinese from reaching U.S. shores and asking for political asylum, which would enable the immigrants to remain in the country pending lengthy legal proceedings.

Rozental reiterated Mexico’s rejection of the original proposal, which he said would have required U.S. immigration officials or representatives of the United Nations to screen the immigrants.

“None of the undocumented immigrants will remain in Mexico, and it will not be permitted that they pass into a third country seeking asylum,” Rozental said in an official statement. “At the moment that the boats enter national territory, they will be confiscated and the crews will be arrested. . . . At the same time, the immediate repatriation of the Chinese to their country of origin will begin.”

The decision is meant to deter international smugglers from using Mexico as a clandestine corridor for illegal Chinese immigrants headed to the United States. Mexican officials also intend to send a message that they will not allow the immigration laws of other countries to be applied in their nation, Rozental said.

The tone of the announcement appeared to reinforce the perception of some observers that although Mexican authorities have appeared willing to cooperate, they are sensitive to being pushed into the politically risky role of acting as an arm of U.S. immigration policy.

At the same time, Mexico’s hopes for completing the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement serve as a strong impetus for cooperating in a key test of the Clinton Administration’s approach to illegal immigration.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mike McCurry said: “We welcome Mexico’s humanitarian decision. As the government of Mexico has made clear, Mexico will make the arrangements for the handling of these migrants.”

Robert Gelbard, deputy assistant secretary of state for Latin America, and Immigration and Naturalization Service officials will travel to Mexico City today to help work out additional details on the handling of the case and to devise rules to govern possible recurrences, McCurry said.

Mexico will not accept the U.S. offer to pay the transportation costs and will seek the Chinese government’s aid in speeding the deportation process, Rozental said.

The Chinese immigrants will apparently be brought to Ensenada, but the timing and details of the complicated operation were still being worked out, according to Mexican and U.S. officials who asked not to be identified.

In addition to the international sensibilities and sheer number of people involved, U.S. officials expressed concern about the reaction of the increasingly tense Chinese immigrants when they learn they are being sent home.

Under one likely scenario, Mexican immigration authorities would take the Chinese by bus from the port of Ensenada to Mexicali to board a flight to China as soon as possible.

In May, Mexico deported 158 U.S.-bound Chinese who had been arrested in a safehouse near Ensenada.

On Wednesday, some human rights activists questioned the wisdom and legality of Mexico’s decision, particularly the declaration that none of the Chinese would be allowed to remain in Mexico.

Jose Luis Perez Canchola, the human rights ombudsman for the state of Baja California, said: “If what they are doing is a summary deportation process, that would violate the Mexican constitution and international human rights.”

The human rights agency will demand access to the immigrants if they are brought to Ensenada to determine whether any are legitimate political refugees, Perez said. He said he plans to ask the assistance of the United Nations and Mexico’s federal human rights commission.

In the United States, immigration control advocates praised Mexico for taking a hard-line stance.

“It does show that Mexico can work with the U.S. to discourage this kind of thing from happening,” said Ben Seeley of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “But we need to get our own house in order. We can’t rely on Mexico to solve our problems.”