Transcript of Press Conference with Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Interior Minister of Mexico Santiago Creel

Release Date: 05/31/05 00:00:00

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact 202-282-8010
Washington, D.C.
May 31, 2005

Secretary Chertoff: Well, I want to welcome you here to this conference, which follows on a discussion that Minister Creel and I have had for the past hour. This is the Minister's first visit to the United States since I became Secretary of Homeland Security. And I was delighted to be able to welcome him here to continue the discussions we've had, both over the telephone, and, most recently, when we were in Crawford together at the time of the summit between the three heads of state of Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Our countries are neighbors, and as good neighbors, we work together in our mutual interest. That includes our mutual interest in prosperity, a healthy economy, trade, and mutual security. And our discussions today are part of the process of moving forward, which the Presidents themselves announced in Crawford in March, where we are working to promote our Prosperity and Security Partnership in the interest of both countries.

We have much work to do ahead, we've accomplished a lot. We have had tremendous relations, though, and it's both a pleasure and a professional -- a personal and a professional pleasure to be with Minister Creel and to have worked with him over the months I've been in office, accomplishing a lot in the interest of both of our peoples.

Minister Creel: Thank you. (In Spanish, via translator.)  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am very pleased to be here today with Secretary Chertoff, to whom I thank for his hospitality, as well as for the very productive work meeting that we had today.

At the meeting, we made a list of the goals that we have reached, and we laid out the future tasks that both our departments will carry out.

When we assess the results that we obtained in the security arena, and in border management during the last three years, we confirmed that all of this has been possible because of mutual respect, dialogue, and balance between each of the countries' interests.

We have worked under a vision of shared responsibility, with a clear aim to prevent international terrorism from using our geographic vicinity.

We can safely say that Mexico and the United States have collaborated in an exemplary manner on this difficult and complex matter. As a result, we now have a more modern, more efficient and better secured common border.

Last January, Mexico's Secretariat of Governance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a detailed report on all the progress made in the implementation of the U.S.-Mexico Border Partnership and its action plan.

Now, with Secretary Chertoff, we have identified priority actions for the remainder of 2005, timelines for their implementation, and the necessary mechanisms that will enable us to accomplish this.

We have been able to institutionalize the relations between our governments. This has allowed us to continue our productive relationship and to ensure that we will continue this relationship between both governments.

With respect to the Border Partnership in the upcoming months, we will be giving special attention to the opening of new lanes for the expedited flow of people and vehicles.

Six new SENTRI lanes will be opened in Tijuana San Ysidro, Juarez City and El Paso, Mexicali and Calexico, Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, Nogales Nogales, and Matamoros Brownsville.

Also eight FAST lanes will be functioning in Nogales Nogales, Piedras Negras, Eagle Pass, Juarez City Santa Teresa, Acuña City and Del Rio, Camargo Rio Grande City, Tecate Tecate, Agua Prieta-Douglas, and San Luis Rio Colorado and San Luis.

In addition, we will make certain that the repatriation of Mexican nationals is carried out with respect to their human rights, and we will also intensify our cooperation in the fight against human trafficking.

As you know, our strategic planning exercise for the development of the common border will be enhanced by the trilateral agreement signed on March 23rd by the Presidents of Mexico and the United States and Canada's Prime Minister, when the Security and Prosperity Partnership for North America was launched.

Another central issue of discussion during our talks was the migration relations between our two countries. In this regard, the government of Mexico has insisted in the need to achieve a comprehensive reordering of the situation faced by Mexican migrants who do not have the necessary documents to work in the United States.

We have expressed our concern about the implementation of the REAL ID Act, particularly because it reduces the possibility of issuing driver's licenses, and the construction of a new wall in the San Diego area.

We underline our concern about the fact that these decisions could generate the conditions for extreme positions to be taken regarding migration, and therefore, will foment more uncertainties in the positions that relevant social and political actors will adopt on the issue.

We fully agreed in the fact that the enforcement of migration laws is exclusively a governmental responsibility, and not that of citizens. We have made commitments to safeguard the human rights of Mexican immigrants, regardless of their immigration status.

We also talked about the current state of the debate on migration in U.S. Congress. We expressed our aspiration to have certainty about the course of the debate and what will be its scope.

In the meantime, we have asked our collaborators to analyze and propose whatever measures we can legally adopt in order to move ahead with the objective of establishing a migration relationship between Mexico and the United States that is more in tune with our vicinity and history.

We have agreed to implement the voluntary repatriation program next summer. In 2004, this program gave us satisfactory results. More than 14,000 Mexican nationals were successfully repatriated.

Secretary Chertoff, President Fox's administration has proven through its actions to be a reliable ally to the United States in the joint fight against international terrorism and organized crime.

In a short period of time, we institutionalized the relations between our departments. It is obvious that there is still much to be done, but we have an action plan with specific projects in the short and medium terms. We have also established a permanent and productive relationship between our teams that has already given us results.

The Department of Homeland Security, under your leadership, has, in Mexico's Secretariat of Governance, a trustworthy counterpart that is fully committed to continuing to work together. Thank you very much.

Secretary Chertoff: Thank you.

Question: Secretary Chertoff, I wonder if you had the chance of -- well, it's obvious that there is a great friendship and relationship that you keep with Secretary Creel. And there's this likelihood very high that this will be the last time that you encounter him as the Secretary of Interior of Mexico because he'll be running for the nomination of his party for the presidency of Mexico. And I wonder if you have had the chance to discuss that with him.

Secretary Chertoff: I think questions about the Secretary's future are best left to him. I can tell you I have, in the brief time that I have known him -- which has really been since I became Secretary of Homeland Security -- we've had a terrific relationship. We've spoken on the phone, we've met in person, I've very much enjoyed working with him.

Question: (Via translator.)  Did you have the opportunity to speak about the fact that you will be running for President in Mexico, and that this will be the last time that you two will meet as you holding the position of Secretary of Governance?

Minister Creel: (Via translator.)  Well, I gave my word to serve my country, and I will not make the decision to run for the presidency until tomorrow, so I would not like to announce that decision too early or too late.

Question: (Via translator.)  Secretary Creel, you actually mentioned in Mexican TV that you will step down. Why are you now saying that you have not mentioned that yet?  

Regarding the U.S.-Mexico wall, in Mexico you expressed some very strong feelings concerning this wall, but here, you do not express the same strong feelings. Were you just saying those things in Mexico because you were a presidential candidate, and as other Mexican government officials, you come to the United States and are unable to say those things?

Minister Creel: (Via translator.)  I actually did not announce my presidential candidacy in Mexican TV. I will announce that tomorrow, and that is why I responded in the way that I did.

Regarding the wall between the U.S. and Mexican border, I expressed the need to have a different plan of action, to have closer and more productive relations between the U.S. and Mexico. As I said before, Mexico is very worried about the REAL ID Act for two reasons: one, because it makes it more difficult to issue licenses to undocumented Mexicans; and two, because it approves the construction of a 50-kilometer wall along the San Diego border. Both of these worries I expressed to Chertoff in previous meetings, and I am also expressing them now.

Question: Secretary Chertoff, Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy presented a very ambitious proposal to reform immigration by legalizing millions of illegal workers in this country. I'd like to ask you, under the DHS perspective, do you think by legalizing millions of immigrants, illegal immigrants to the U.S., do you think that improves or harms national security?

And secondly, the REAL ID Act entitles you to override federal rules to build a wall on the borders. Have you taken a position on that?

Secretary Chertoff: Dealing with the first question, I don't know that I completely agree with your description of the bill that was submitted recently in Congress. It's probably a little bit more complicated than that. I think in general, the President has made it clear that he believes there would be real value in having a temporary worker program that would achieve the principles of allowing willing workers and willing employers to get together in a way that's, of course, consistent with the need to make sure American workers have an opportunity to work, as well.

And as I've said, that type of program, in conjunction with a program of effective control of our border, is, I think, a path that would satisfy all the legitimate concerns that people have.

With respect to the second issue, the statute that was passed only recently, obviously we have to look at the law, we have to make the appropriate judgments about what the impact of the law will be and how to implement it. And when that process is done, we'll make the decisions that are appropriate.

Question: Secretary Chertoff, with regards to the (inaudible) removal program, the Minister had said that that's going to be starting in the next year. Is that --

Secretary Chertoff: I think -- no, I think this summer.

Question: Okay.

Secretary Chertoff: This coming summer.

Question: Okay. And is that going to be expanded beyond the Arizona border, or beyond the September --

Secretary Chertoff: We don't have the exact dates yet, but it will be starting in the relatively near future this summer. It was a very successful program last summer.

Question: Will this be an ongoing summertime program from here on out, or --

Secretary Chertoff: Well, it's ongoing for this summer. We can only speak one year at a time. But it's a good program.

Question: (Via translator.)  Senator Creel, I'm a representative from the EFE Agency, and I'm not sure if this was a topic that you guys spoke about in the meeting, but what is Mexico doing about the visas that are being issued to Brazilians, since it is an issue that is of great concern, this issue of having non-Mexican immigrants coming into the country?

Minister Creel: (Via translator.)  We spoke about this issue and we have been speaking about it in the last several months. And we are also very worried about the undocumented Brazilians that are coming into Mexico. We have begun speaking with the Brazilian authorities in this regard, and we have not yet made any decisions, but we're still talking to the Brazilian government, and decisions will be made soon.

Question: (Via translator.)  Secretary Creel, maybe this will be announced tomorrow, but what should the United States do, in your opinion, concerning the immigration issue?  What rights do you feel Mexican immigrants should have in the United States?

Minister Creel: (Via translator.)  Mexico is very clear on this issue. We need to reorder the immigration situation so that Mexican immigrants who come to work in the United States in legal jobs have the proper documentation that they need, and then that they may return to Mexico so we can have a circular process that will be beneficial for both Mexico and the United States and the U.S. economy.

Thank you.

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