|
FNS: Hi-Tech Border Crossing Overheats.
December 6, 2006
Immigration/Commerce News
The Galactic Battle of the Border Cars
Stranded on the US-Mexico border and embroiled in a dispute
with Mexican authorities, US residents of Central American
origin are battling to return to their homelands for the
winter holidays. A conflict centered in the northern Mexican
border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, pits motor vehicle
owners against Mexican customs officials who are demanding
the placing of satellite-navigated Global Positioning
Systems (GPS) on autos that plan to pass through Mexico.
Rocio Hickson, the spokeswoman for a Central American
migrant auto exporters' association, accused local customs
officials headed by Eduardo Argote Michel of breaking a
previous agreement that delayed implementation of the GPS
rule until March 2007. Claiming that the GPS devices don't
function on Mexican highways anyway, Hickson said customs
officials are violating the spirit of an earlier promise to
postpone a planned GPS fee of $400 dollars for each vehicle.
Charging that some Mexican officials were treating the fee
as a private business, Hickson said that Matamoros customs
officials are still trying to collect $120 dollars from each
vehicle owner. Hickson's group represents individuals mainly
from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize. But
Mexican customs official Argote Michel maintained that the
GPS devices are solely for the purpose of verifying that the
US-based migrants drive their cars home to Central America
and don't unload them in Mexico for a profit. Mexico has
experienced a long-standing problem of used US automobiles
dumped on the local market. Many of the older cars and
trucks are highly polluting.
Frustrated by the stand-off with the Mexican government and
anxious to get home before Christmas, Hickson's group
threatened at one point this week to block an international
bridge between Matamoros and Texas. Adding that her group
was thinking about using US ports to ship the cars by sea if
a solution were not found soon, Hickson contended that
Mexico stands to lose the most in the conflict.
"Considering that each migrant spends $500 dollars on
average during his trip back to Central America, Mexico
could lose millions in income," said the migrant car
exporter leader.
Source: La Jornada, December 4, 2006. Article by Julia
Antonia Le Duc.
Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
(Photos: Brax - Valley Publishing Company)
Send feedback to:
Editor, Upper Valley Beacon
Copyright © 2004-2006 Valley Publishing Company:
All Rights Reserved.
| 
