State

Kyl criticizes Fox

Thursday, March 17, 2005 9:20 PM CST

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) today urged Mexican President Vicente Fox to respect the United States' right to defend its borders and "demonstrate perhaps a little less disdain for the rule of law north of the border."

"I agree with President Fox that it is unacceptable for civilian groups to take the law into their own hands, and that individuals who volunteer to help the Border Patrol in a lawful way must guard against extremism in their ranks," Kyl said. "But at the same time, President Fox does not appear to grasp the high level of frustration over illegal immigration in states like Arizona, and his pre-emptive threats to file lawsuits on behalf of those crossing the border unlawfully is hardly helpful, since it presumes that illegal aliens have more of a right to break American law than American citizens have to peacefully assist authorities in enforcing it."

Moreover, Kyl called Fox's recent ridicule of border walls, such as a new "triple fence" planned for San Diego, "downright insulting."

"For one thing, the United States is a sovereign nation that has every right to protect our borders, as other countries do, without baseless accusations of 'discrimination'. The process for entering the United States legally is straightforward and not terribly difficult - deterrence measures like walls only discriminate against those who intend to break the law."

Fox recently claimed in an interview that security along the border was "as high a priority for (Mexico) as it is for the United States," and that Mexico has been "very cooperative" with U.S. officials on security measures to create an "orderly flow" of legal immigrants and commerce across the border.

"If President Fox is serious about helping to reduce illegal immigration, a good start would be to prohibit his government's production of materials like the free comic book guide to crossing the border illegally and living unobtrusively so as not to attract the attention of law enforcement," Kyl said. "I doubt Mr. Fox would appreciate it if the U.S. government started giving out free advice on how to get away with tax fraud in Mexico City."