Mexicans Say Guard Won’t Slow Migrants

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico—President Bush’s decision to send the National Guard to the Mexican border drew an angry response from migrants who said troops would not deter them, while Mexico’s government said Monday it would respect the U.S. action as “a sovereign decision.”

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But presidential hopeful Felipe Calderon from Fox’s National Action Party said the military presence would endanger migrants, while failing to stop the human wave heading northwards.

“These measures have been proven mistaken. They increase the social and human costs for migrants and only benefit criminal groups that make money on the hopes and suffering of those looking for an opportunity,” Calderon said in a statement.

In a migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez, a group of 10 Central Mexicans and Central Americans watched a soap opera while Bush’s speech was broadcast live on the other channel.

“People here have more important things to do then watch Bush,” said Carlos Amado Luarca, a Dominican monk who works in the shelter. “This plan to send soldiers is one more sign of the decadence of the American empire.”

Along the border in Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, Honduran Antonio Auriel said he would make it into the United States whatever was in his path.

“Soldiers in the border? That won’t stop me. I’ll swim the river and jump the wall. I’m going to arrive in the United States,” Auriel said.

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