The Washington Times
The American Civil Liberties Union has warned the 950 volunteers expected to take part next month in an Arizona border vigil against illegal immigration that it is assigning monitors to ensure none of the aliens are abused.
The warning came in the wake of meetings last week by five senators from Mexico's three political parties, who voiced their concerns to Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton, state legislators, civic leaders and the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
"We're very worried about it," Sen. Sadot Sanchez Carreno of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and chairman of the Mexican Senate's human rights committee, told reporters in Phoenix.
In the days following the meetings, Mexico filed a diplomatic note with the United States asking for assurances the volunteers, who begin their monthlong vigil April 1 as members of the "Minuteman Project," do not abuse Mexicans caught illegally entering the United States.
Geronimo Gutierrez, undersecretary for North American affairs at Mexico's Foreign Ministry, wrote that actions by the volunteers "could be in violation of federal and state laws to the detriment of Mexican citizens," adding that Mexico did not want "the rights of its citizens transgressed."
Posted by Suzanne at March 21, 2005