Mexico warns citizens may be harassed in Arizona

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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63Q3OU20100427

Mexico warns citizens may be " harassed " in Arizona

(Reuters) - Mexico warned its citizens living in or traveling to Arizona that

they could be " harassed " there after the state passed one of the toughest

immigration laws in the United States last week.

U.S.

Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed a bill into law last week that

makes it a crime to be in the state illegally and requires police to check the

status of people they reasonably suspect to be illegal immigrants.

The law, decried by critics as discriminatory, will force immigrants to carry

their alien registration documents at all times once it takes effect 90 days

after Arizona's current legislative session ends.

Mexico's foreign ministry issued a statement saying that Mexicans in Arizona

should be aware of the new law and contact their consular representatives if

they are unlawfully detained.

" Until it is clearly defined under what criteria, when, where and who the

authorities will check, you should assume that every Mexican citizen could be

harassed and questioned without cause at any moment, " it said.

The new law prohibits people from being hired from a vehicle on a public street,

the statement noted. Undocumented workers in the United States often gather to

wait for employers to drive by and pick them up for day jobs as construction

workers, farm workers or landscapers.

An estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants live in the desert state, which also

straddles the main point of entry for illegal immigrants crossing into the

United States from Mexico.

President Barack Obama denounced the Arizona law as misguided and has ordered

monitoring of its implementation. White House press secretary Gibbs has

warned that other states could also bring in tough immigration laws if there is

no national comprehensive immigration reform.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said the law criminalizes immigration and

opens the door to " intolerance, hate, and discrimination.

To protest against the law, the governor of the Mexican border state of Sonora

canceled a June meeting with Arizona officials that would have been the latest

in decades of annual cooperation meetings between the two states.

The legislation sparked street protests and has forced hard choices on

immigrants, some of whom have lived in Arizona for years.