[JURIST] Mexican President Vicente Fox [official website] Thursday criticized the Secure Fence Act of 2006 [text, PDF; HR 6061 summary] signed [JURIST report] earlier in the day by President Bush. Fox called the legislation to build a 700-mile fence [JURIST new archive] along part of the US-Mexican border in an attempt to curb illegal immigration "an embarrassment for the United States. It is proof, perhaps, that the United States does not see immigration as a subject that corresponds to both countries." Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], who takes office on December 1, echoed Fox's complaints, saying "Humanity committed a grave error by constructing the Berlin wall and I am sure that today the United States is committing a grave error in constructing a wall along our northern border."

On Wednesday the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs [official website] took Mexico's concerns to the Organization of American States [official website], where 28 other Latin American nations joined it in a declaration [text] in which they

Declared their deep concern regarding the decision adopted by the United States of America to build and extend a wall on its border with Mexico, considering it to be a unilateral measure that goes against the spirit of understanding that should characterize how shared problems between neighboring countries are handled and that affects cooperation in the hemisphere.

…stressed that the building of walls does not encourage adequate attention to the migratory issue and

…confirmed that the measure does not acknowledge the historic contribution of migrant workers to the United States’ own economic development [; and]

…agreed that the documentation of migrant workers is a solution that does not put up physical barriers.