MEXICO/USA: U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TOM RIDGE SAYS US AND MEXICAN AUTORITIES ARE WORKING ON PLAN TO CUT NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DEATHS
Record ID:
222839
MEXICO/USA: U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TOM RIDGE SAYS US AND MEXICAN AUTORITIES ARE WORKING ON PLAN TO CUT NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DEATHS
- Title: MEXICO/USA: U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TOM RIDGE SAYS US AND MEXICAN AUTORITIES ARE WORKING ON PLAN TO CUT NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DEATHS
- Date: 19th February 2004
- Summary: (U1) MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (FEBRUARY 19, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TOM RIDGE ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE 0.10 2. PHOTOGRAPHERS 0.12 3. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MEXICO TONY GARZA INTRODUCING RIDGE 0.18 4. WS: AUDIENCE CLAPPING 0.19 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TOM RIDGE SAYING: "We can shut down the borders for security reasons, but that imperils family connections, it certainly imperilled the economic connection and there are a lot of families and a lot of communities on both sides of the border, rely on the border being open so that people and traffic can go back freely." 0.41 6. AUDIENCE LISTENING 0.44 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RIDGE SAYING: "We need to construct a 21st century smart border agreement with our friends to the North and the South." 0.53 8. WS: NEWS CONFERENCE 0.58 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RIDGE SAYING: "We're concerned about the 200-plus citizens that lost their lives - your citizens that lost their lives seeking an opportunity, seeking a job, looking for a better way in America. And I know you're concerned about the men and women - we have a couple of people on our Border Patrol who have lost their lives enforcing our laws." 1.18 10. WS: RIDGE TALKING 1.23 (U1) MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (FILE) (REUTERS) 11. PEOPLE WALKING IN THE STREET 1.29 (U1) SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, USA (FILE) (REUTERS) 12. VARIOUS OF MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS WORKING IN INDUSTRY (2 SHOTS) 1.40 13. VARIOUS OF MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS WORKING IN THE FIELD (2 SHOTS) 1.51 (U1) TIJUANA, MEXICO (FILE) (REUTERS) 14. POLICE WALKING TOWARDS A CAR 1.57 15. POLICE LOOKING THROUGH INTERIOR OF CAR 2.02 16. POLICE DISCOVERING MEXICAN TRYING TO CROSS THE BORDER IN THE TRUNK OF THE CAR 2.08 17. POLICE WALKING WITH DOG 2.13 18. BORDER BOOTH 2.17 19. BORDER CROSSING 2.22 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 5th March 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MEXICO CITY AND TIJUANA, MEXICO AND SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, USA
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA500FO2ZSXF526S2YI6P5158QJ
- Story Text: U.S., Mexico trying to cut illegal immigrant deaths,
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge says in
Mexico.
The United States and Mexico are working on a plan
to cut the number of illegal immigrants who die every year
making the dangerous crossing of their joint border,
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said on Thursday
(February 19).
"We can shut down the borders for security reasons, but
that imperils family connections, it certainly imperilled
the economic connection and there are a lot of families and
a lot of communities on both sides of the border, rely on
the border being open so that people and traffic can go
back freely," Ridge told a business meeting in the Mexican
capital.
He said he would discuss the plan with Mexican
officials on Friday (February 20), when he meets President
Vicente Fox and Interior Minister Santiago Creel.
"We need to construct a 21st century smart border
agreement with our friends to the North and the South,"
Ridge said.
The number of immigrants who died last year crossing
from Mexico into the United States in search of a better
standard of living rose to the highest level in three years.
At least 346 immigrants from Mexico and Latin America
died trying to cross the border during the government's
2003 fiscal year, which ended in September.
"We're concerned about the 200-plus citizens that lost
their lives - your citizens that lost their lives seeking
an opportunity, seeking a job, looking for a better way in
America," Ridge said.
The main cause of death is dehydration and exposure as
the immigrants trudge through the desert into Arizona.
Ridge said an immigration proposal by President George
W. Bush in January would bring illegal aliens in the United
States out of the shadows and into the mainstream of U.S.
life.
The Bush proposal would let millions of mostly Hispanic
immigrants work legally in the United States under a
temporary three-year visa program. Critics say the plan is
an attempt to win Hispanic votes in a presidential election
year.
Ridge said he would also discuss with Mexican leaders
ways to speed the legal border traffic of people and goods,
slowed down by tighter security since the attacks of
September 11, 2001 on the United States.
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