Mexico Dismissive of U.S. Border Plan

Workers repair a section of the metal border wall that separates Nogales, Mexico, right, with Nogales, Ariz., Wednesday, May 17, 2006, seen from Mexico. The U.S. Senate endorsed a chance at citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants Wednesday but also voted to build 370 miles of triple-layered fencing along the Mexican border in increasingly emotional debate over election-year immigration legislation. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) (Gregory Bull - AP)

In January, Texas authorities hunting drug traffickers came across heavily armed men dressed in Mexican military garb and chased them back across the border. The Mexican government said the men were drug smugglers disguised as soldiers.

While troops are common in Nuevo Laredo, much of the Mexican side isn't patrolled, aside from the occasional military checkpoints set up to search for drugs and weapons.

Mexican President Vicente Fox has expressed concern about the U.S. plan, telling President Bush in a weekend phone call that he would like to see a more "comprehensive" reform that respects human rights and allows for the orderly, legal movement of people across the border.

Fox's government said this week it will file lawsuits in U.S. courts if National Guard troops detain migrants. But presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said Wednesday that Mexico respects the U.S. decision to send the soldiers and that "it's not about militarizing" the border.

Roberto Madrazo, one of three main presidential candidates, disagreed.

"We aren't going to solve the migration problem with the army," he said during a campaign appearance Tuesday. "Militarizing the border seems like another bad idea by the U.S. government. It's just going to slow the delivery of a lot of goods."

Nuevo Laredo City Council member Jose Francisco Chavira said he's considering organizing a boycott of U.S. goods to protest the plan.

"I see it as an act of intimidation, an act that is part of a plan to build a giant wall along the border, like Bush wants," he said.