At border meeting, speakers outline issues involving migrants

Published: 2005-07-01

EL PASO, Texas (CNS) -- Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Derbez said his government, under the leadership of President Vicente Fox, agreed with a 2003 U.S.-Mexican bishops' migration statement that Mexico's workers must be able to achieve in their own country the wealth that they currently produce in other countries. At the same time, he criticized the poor image given in some quarters of the United States to hardworking immigrants who are seeking an honest living in the United States. He also responded to criticism of the treatment of immigrants from Central America by some Mexican officials by saying that victims of abuse should report it through the government's tip lines. Derbez made the comments during a June 23-26 church-sponsored binational conference in El Paso, attended by a dozen bishops from the United States and Mexico and others involved in the church's migrant ministries.

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