Wednesday, December 25, 2002
Local lawyers on 100-member Mexico council
They'll represent legal and illegal U.S. immigrants
By Tim Steller
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Two local attorneys will form part of a 100-member council created by Mexico's government to represent Mexicans living in the United States.
Isabel Garcia and Jose Lerma will be among the council members, all of whom are U.S. residents. Their main duty: to advise the Mexican government on the needs of its approximately 9.5 million native sons and daughters in this country.
The council's formation raises a broader question underlying the faltering U.S.-Mexican negotiations over immigration: Who should represent the estimated 4.5 million Mexican-born residents of the United States here illegally, and the approximately 5 million here legally.
Critics say the council looks like a representative branch of Mexico's government on U.S. soil. Seats were distributed in proportion to the concentrations of Mexican-national population across the United States, but members were not chosen by election.
"I think in general what the Mexican government wants
is a joint sovereignty with the United States over Mexican nationals
living in this country," said Steven Camarota, research
director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington,
D.C., group that favors restricting immigration.
