WASHINGTON (Talon News) — In addressing the issue of immigration, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that the U.S. must “make sure that we are securing our borders and that we are doing it in a way that protects our society,” but added that terrorism is not a “real threat” from Mexico.
In an interview with the Univision Television Network, Secretary Powell said that people from Mexico come to the U.S. to “earn a living, in order to raise families.”
“Mexicans make an important contribution to the United States economy and to the United States society and culture, and they also make an important contribution to Mexico by the money they are able to send back and the skills they are able to send back and take back to Mexico,” Powell said.
Secretary Powell added that the U.S. wants to handle immigration in a way that “regularizes movement” across the border in a safe way so that “Mexicans are not put at risk in their efforts to come to the United States.”
“But we have found it very difficult to find the right answers to the many issues that are out there — regularization, ease of transit across the border, use of consulate documents,” Powell said.
“And what I said last November I believe in very, very much, that we want to work on these issues,” Powell continued. “The President wants to work on these issues, as he agreed he would do with President Fox two years ago at their first summit meeting. And for the last several months since I made that statement, we have been working on a number of issues that we hope we will be able to put forward and get agreement with our Mexican colleagues on that don’t require legislative action, but we can do with executive action on our part.”
When asked about amnesty for illegal aliens, Powell said that it is “not practical” to think that an amnesty of “some kind” could be granted for all those who are here without proper documentation.
“That would not be reasonable to assume and I would not wish to mislead anyone,” Powell said.
“But a lot of the other issues with respect to movement across the border in both directions I think can be dealt with, and I look forward to continuing our discussions with the Mexican Government,” Powell added.
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