Mexico closes loophole that gave Brazilians springboard for illegal U.S. entry (Note: "Illegal migration," The National Migration Institute calls it.) September 13, 2005 By Sergio Chapa schapa@brownsvilleherald.com  The Brownsville Herald Brownsville, Texas http://www.BrownsvilleHerald.com   To submit a Letter to the Editor: dfullerton@brownsvilleherald.com  Mexico City, Mexico - The Mexican government has closed a legal loophole that has allowed thousands of Brazilian nationals to illegally enter the United States over the last two years. Under new immigration regulations issued by the Mexican government last week, tourists and businessmen from Brazil, Ecuador and South Africa will have to apply for three- or five-year visas that allow for multiple entries into Mexico. Brazilians in 2000 were exempted from presenting a passport or visa to enter Mexico, prompting what American officials documented as a 20-fold increase in illegal immigration of people from the South American nation using Mexico as a springboard to enter the United States. U.S. Border Patrol figures show most of the Brazilians pass through the Rio Grande Valley sector, where agents caught 1,045 of them in fiscal year 2003 compared to more than 21,456 since October. Ministry of Foreign Relations spokesman Allan Nahum Kaim said Friday that the decision was “purely domestic” and based on the growing number of undocumented immigrants from Brazil, Ecuador and South Africa. “We were having a dramatic increase of people from those countries who entered as tourists on vacation and did not return to their countries and stayed in Mexico,” Nahum said. According to figures from the National Migration Institute (INAMI) http://www.inami.gob.mx/, Brazilians made up 6,450 or 63 percent of Mexico’s undocumented immigrants in the first six months of this year. The Institute’s figures showed an increase from 4,822 Brazilians who made up 48 percent of Mexico’s undocumented immigrants in 2004. Ecuador followed Brazil in 2004 as the next largest source of illegal immigration, with 1,076 people or 10.7 percent -- while Venezuela was third. Although South Africa was 19th on the list of Mexico’s illegal immigrants with 51 immigrants or 0.5 percent in 2004, it was designated as one of three nations subject to the new requirements without further clarification from Mexican officials. According to archives from The Monitor in McAllen, a Pakistani woman holding a South African passport was caught trying to board a flight to New York City after swimming across the Rio Grande. The woman was deported in March, but U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, told The Associated Press that her name had appeared on a terrorist watch list. Officials with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City declined to comment on the new Mexican regulations on Friday, but labeled the change a “purely domestic decision made by the Mexican government.” U.S. Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector spokesman Julio Salinas declined to comment on the new regulations, but said that illegal immigration from Brazil reached a peak in May and has declined ever since federal authorities implemented an expedited removal system in July. Salinas said program has been used to deport adult immigrants from nations other than Mexico [OTM] in as little as three to five days who are taken in custody less than 15 days after illegally crossing within 100 miles of the border. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said although expedited removal has speeded up the removal process, each immigrant is given due process under the law. According to reports from Notimex, Brazil responded to Mexico’s decision by changing its immigration laws by requiring that Mexicans also apply for visas to enter the South American nation. Copyright 2005, The Brownsville Herald. http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_comments.php?id=P67035_0_10_0  Additional related, recommended reading: U.S.-Mexico Border Patrol Said [to be] Failing November 3, 2003 http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/11/2/161018.shtml