MEXICO: THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT DISTRIBUTED A COMIC BOOK THAT SEEMINGLY GIVES INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO ILLEGALY CROSS THE MEXICAN/U.S. BORDER

Record ID: 799733

  • Title: MEXICO: THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT DISTRIBUTED A COMIC BOOK THAT SEEMINGLY GIVES INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO ILLEGALY CROSS THE MEXICAN/U.S. BORDER
  • Date: 6th January 2005
  • Summary: SHOTS OF "GUIDE FOR THE MEXICAN IMMIGRANT"
  • Embargoed: 21st January 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TIJUANA AND MEXICO CITY,MEXICO / SEATTLE, UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime,Arts,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6O4UX5JI9B64IRI8NE9PGQN3Z
  • Story Text: The Mexican government distributed a comic book that seemingly gives instructions on how to illegally cross the Mexican/U.S. border.
    A Mexican government comic strip showing illegal migrants how to cross the U.S. border safely and live unobtrusively in the United States is aimed at preventing unnecessary deaths but has triggered an angry response from anti-immigrant lobbies.
    The 32-page color primer published by Mexico's foreign ministry in December gives would-be migrants tips including how to swim safely across the Rio Grande or avoid dehydration in the desert heat. It also sets out their legal rights on detention.
    "Maybe on the other side this won't go over well but for those of us on this side and want to cross the border illegal without anyone knowing it's good for them to tell us what our rights are," said ex-migrant worker Agustin JImenez.
    The booklet has, however, been slammed by some U.S.
    anti-immigration groups and editorial writers as a practical "how-to" manual encouraging the million-or-more Mexicans who attempt the illegal crossing each year.
    Approximately 1.5 million copies of the pamphlet, dubbed the Mexican Migrants' Guide, had been distributed to several states in central Mexico selected for their high incidences of migration to the United States.
    Practical advice in the guide includes not wearing heavy clothing to swim cross border rivers, and adding salt to water to avoid dehydration while crossing the deserts that form much of the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) frontier.
    "The United States has the right to control their border which has enormous consequences in human lives as thousands of Mexicans have died trying to cross and enter the country," said Dr. Sergio Aguayo.
    "From that perspective, I think it is very reasonable, very logical and normal that the Mexican government has worried enough to put out this booklet with clear information."
    The booklet, which was distributed as an insert with a mass circulation cowboy comic called El Libro Vaquero, also informs migrants of their rights to medical and consular attention if detained by the U.S. Border Patrol.
    Using graphic sequences depicting baseball-cap wearing family members, it counsels Mexicans who succeed in reaching the United States to live quietly, avoiding bar-brawls, drunken driving and domestic violence.
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