Representative Berman (see his immigration voting record here, interviewed by the Mexican media, had a message for Mexico's government and society, warning them that things might get tough in the next six months, but not to worry, immigration reform is on the way.
Berman assured Mexico that within a year, amnesty for illegal aliens and a guest worker program could be achieved, and also asked Mexican president Felipe Calderon to show his willingness to stop emigration.
Berman said that
"Maybe some of the decisions we take will be regarded by the people of Mexico as hostile. What we want them (Mexicans) to understand is that they are measures to enable their (Mexican) workers to come legally to this country."[Más dureza del Capitolio contra indocumentados, alertan en EU , By Natalia Gómez Quintero, El Universal, February 16, 2007]
Michelle Waslin of the National Council of La Raza (referred to as a "pro-immigrant" organization) was also interviewed for the article , she made it clear she is for open borders (big surprise!).
[UPDATE: A reader pointed out that the translation is in error, because I missed the word tampoco:
Waslin dijo que una reforma migratoria "muy posible en este a?o", concretaría una migración documentada, pero dejó claro que su organización tampoco está en favor de tener una frontera abierta. Waslin said that migratory reform is “very possible this year”, and would establish a "documented" migration, but she made it clear that her organization is not in favor of having an open border.
While the NCLR is opposed to almost all immigration restrictions, a truly open border would, in effect, put them out of business.]
The article also quoted Dan Stein of FAIR (referred to as an organization of "anti-immigrant tendency"), who said it was a myth that “Mexicans do the work Americans don’t want to do” and blamed employers who pay salaries that are too low for American workers.
