 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Los Angeles Times – March 4, 2004 Millions of Mexicans entering U.S. will be SUZANNE GAMBOA WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration backed off plans to require that millions of visa-carrying Mexicans who make short visits to America and stay close to the border be fingerprinted and photographed to get into the country. Asa Hutchinson, the Homeland Security department's undersecretary for border and transportation, was to publicly announce the policy change at a Capitol Hill hearing Thursday (3/4/2004), a congressional official who was briefed on the plan told The Associated Press. The move, a concession to Mexican President Vicente Fox, comes on the eve of his visit to President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. The Homeland Security Department's announcement "represents a friendly and positive gesture toward Mexico," said Agustin Gutierrez Canet, a spokesman for Fox. Mexicans who have so-called laser visas currently are allowed to stay in the country three days provided they stay close to the border. Such visas are issued to people who have undergone background checks and consulate interviews where they are fingerprinted and photographed. The visas generally are held by workers and people who need to make frequent quick trips across the border. But as part of the new US-VISIT program, before the end of the year those people were to be fingerprinted and photographed before crossing the border. The plan being announced by Hutchinson rescinds that requirement. Mexican border officials and officials in U.S. border communities feared the program could lead to long delays or prompt fewer people to enter the country. Either scenario would hurt local economies that rely on a steady flow of visitors. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/a/2004/03/04/national1326EST0615.DTL
|