Mexico Offers Amnesty To Illegal American Immigrants

By BELO Border Bureau Chief Angela Kocherga

Washington lawmakers have insisted the country needs to reform its immigration system, but the biggest conflict has been over how to handle illegal immigrants who have been in this country for awhile.

As it turns out, Mexico is dealing with a similar problem and they have come up with a solution.

Some Americans come to Mexico for the culture, others for the cost, from Mexican border towns to beaches.

More and more Americans make their homes in Mexico. Some entered the country with tourist visas and simply overstayed.

That means they are illegal immigrants. Right not the Mexican government is offering them the chance to come forward and fix their status without facing a penalty.

And the Mexican Consulate in El Paso has a pilot program to correct an old problem on the border: fake birth certificates.

Some Mexican parents of U.S.-born children used fake Mexican birth certificates so their children could live and attend school in Mexico, too. The pilot program includes free legal services.

“That means the people can do it without any kind of fear, any kind of problem and they will be able to correct the situation,” said Roberto Rodriguez Hernandez, the Mexican Consul General in El Paso.

Why do it now? Computerized records make it harder to hide the truth, and the Mexican government wants to get a better handle on its own immigration problems.