Mexico press reflects US migrant law passions

The new laws have sparked widespread opposition

Commentators in some of Mexico's leading newspapers speak passionately against the proposed new US immigration laws which have seen nationwide protests in its powerful northern neighbour.

The belief is widely expressed that Mexicans who cross the Rio Grande to make a new life in the United States are a force for good and a major economic asset rather than a burden on the state.

The major business paper El Economista publishes a commentary by Leonard Pitts Jr telling his fellow Americans to recognise the benefits of immigration and embrace change.

"Much of what drives the nation's unease over illegals has little to do with economics or even national security. Americans fear an influx of people who retain their native languages and customs and thus threaten our 'unique national identity'."

An influx of people doesn't threaten our national identity. It is our national identity Commentator in El Economista

"The country is changing. I just disagree that change is to be feared. If human history tells us anything, it tells us human beings are not static. Language is fluid, culture shifts and populations move, driven by war and famine, pulled by opportunity and hope," argues Mr Pitts.

"The challenge is not to avoid change, but to manage it, to find ways of living together. It's a moral obligation ... an influx of people doesn't threaten our national identity. It is our national identity."

A letter to the daily Reforma by a public health researcher, Arturo Cervantes Trejo, says his work shows Mexican immigrants make a positive contribution to the US and could well serve as role models for many Americans.

He says they are less violent, less involved in criminal activities, use less drugs, live in more integrated families, and their women are less promiscuous.

Paradox

"This is paradoxical for many of them, who live in many adverse situations," he writes, listing poverty, illiteracy, discrimination and poor access to public services among them.

"If Americans emulated our people, they could regain much that has been lost in their society," he concludes.

For a writer in La Jornada, the US will never be the same after more than 500,000 people, the majority Mexican migrants, took to the streets of Los Angeles.

Immigrants will look forward to a better future in a land which has just started to recognise them Writer in La Jornada

Referring to the US as a giant, the writer says the marchers gave the "giant... a kick up the backside which woke it up".

From now on, people will speak of "before the march and after the march" and immigrants "will look forward to a better future in a land which has just started to recognise them".

El Universal columnist Enrique Burgos Garcia speaks of the "potential of regional synergies" and believes that the immigration issue is part of a bigger picture of creating a social and economic space in North America which offers Mexico greater equality with Canada and the US.

"Job opportunities in the US and Canada... drive the migratory phenomenon", he argues, and recognising this, and improving the situation for all concerned could eventually lead to great benefits, not only for North America but for the entire Western Hemisphere.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.