MEXICO CITY: Mexico sought U.S. president George Bush to drop a plan to build a border fence between the two countries to check illegal immigration.
The U.S. Senate on Friday had given its final approval to a bill to construct some 700 miles of the fence with access roads, lighting, cameras and sensors, blocking five of the major crossing points along the 2000-mile border between the two countries. The fence would pass through parts of California, New Mexico and Texas.
The president is expected to sign the bill into law.
In a diplomatic note sent to the U.S. government Monday, the Mexican government said the fence would damage relations between the two countries. Mexican president Vincete Fox has been trying to come to terms with Washington on immigration and the decision on fencing the borders is a major setback for the president, who is completing his six-year term.
Mexico thinks its protest will have little impact as it is sure Bush will not veto the suggestion.
Bush had mooted creation of a guest-worker program, which would match workers with jobs Americans are unwilling to do. But, Republicans in the House of Representatives are keen on sealing the porous frontier.
Hundreds of Latin Americans, mostly Mexicans, die each year crossing the rivers and deserts separating the two countries. An estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants were arrested in the last fiscal year trying to cross into the U.S. using the porous borders in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
The Senate also approved the first $1.2 billion down payment for the construction of the fence, which experts say may cost around $9 billion.
Some U.S. experts, mostly former customs agents, have described the fence plan as impractical. The fence will have to pass through the Huachuca mountains and other ranges in Arizona, which are marked by bluffs and ravines where vehicles cannot be taken. The fencing will also try to bridge several creek beds along the Arizona-Sonora border, which are prone to flash floods.
