Mexico’s Immigrant Laws

Mark Fineman’s Dec. 19 story on harsh Mexican immigration laws underscores the hypocrisy of President Ernesto Zedillo’s criticism of the California electorate and their overwhelming support for Proposition 187. It’s about time we realize that Mexico’s best interests are not the same as ours.

As long as we allow foreign governments to dictate our policies regarding immigration, we will always have to justify our strict enforcement regarding illegal entry into the United States. It seems that every time we crack down at the border, Mexico ends up threatening some retaliatory action.

The underlying question is whether Washington has the resolve to not only stop illegal entries but to enforce the laws enacted in the Immigration Reform and Control Act that provide sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens. We paid the price for enforcement when we allowed millions of illegals to obtain legal status.

Proposition 187 has started on the way to an eventual review by the Supreme Court. It will be decided one way or the other, but we must stem the flow through a continuing crackdown at the border. The double standard of the Mexican government in the area of illegal immigration only exacerbates the problem.

BYRON SLATER

San Diego

* The Times carried a front-page article on the immigration pressures facing Mexico on its southern border. Inside, an article dealt with the scarcity of water for agriculture in California. No mention was made in either about the underlying problem of overpopulation.

Unless world leaders and the press vigorously address overpopulation and the urgent need for responsible family planning, there are no solutions to the above problems and many others like them.

SHIRLEY E. ROTH

Fountain Valley

* At last, The Times has briefly stopped bashing the electorate majority for passing Proposition 187, by publishing a report on Mexico’s harsh treatment of its own illegal immigrants. You wrote that, “In Mexico, the immigration issue remains so sensitive that no government officials would speak on the record about it” and “all statistics on deportations and detentions . . . are off limits to the public.”

Well, evidently not sensitive enough to zip the lips of President Zedillo who, at the recent Miami Summit of the Americas, condemned Proposition 187 as “a violation of Mexican human rights.” Mexico further attempts to dilute its culpability by suggesting that most illegals are merely crossing Mexico on their way to the U.S. border.

LOUISE HAUTER

Los Angeles