Press rallies behind US migrant protesters

Many demonstrators are Mexicans

Newspapers in Mexico and Central America are giving their full backing to the protests in the US against the proposed new immigration law.

Commentators blame a combination of poverty and lack of opportunities in the countries of origin and the pull of an economy keen to attract cheap labour as the main factors behind illegal immigration to the US.

An editorial in Mexico's El Universal says that among the hundreds of thousands of protesters were many of the nine million Mexicans who live in the US.

"The migratory wave is unstoppable for one simple reason: the workers who leave are unemployed here, while there are vacancies there."

"In Mexico, the government has been unable to make the economy grow in line with the demographic increase."

One of the most important events worldwide El Sol de Mexico commentator

El Universal calls on both Washington and Mexico City to ensure that "the migration is legal, safe and well-ordered".

It says the motto of the US is "e pluribus unum" - "from many, one" - and "this stems precisely from the multiracial and multinational unity of this great country".

A writer in Mexico's La Jornada describes the protesters as taking part in "the most important action in defence of their rights".

Another La Jornada reporter says the majority of the demonstrators were Mexican and their actions "showed how important is their presence in American life".

Rene Arce Islas in El Sol de Mexico describes the protests as "one of the most important events worldwide in recent weeks" and praises the demonstrators for breaking cover to demand justice despite of the risk of deportation, "defying Washington politicians, police and xenophobic paramilitaries".

He says migrants are "treated worse than delinquents" in the US despite their major contribution to the economy.

He also attacks the Mexican government. "We can't cross our arms in the face of the predatory economic and social system imposed by the neo-liberals."

Combative

The Mexican tabloid La Cronica de Hoy publishes a special supplement in which numerous figures comment on the migrant issue.

"The people are more combative than ever," says Nativo Lopez, the president of the Mexican American Political Association.

He says the protests "will give an impulse to the 1 May strike when there will be 'A Day without Immigrants'."

US fears the wooden horse of Troy Headline in Guatemala's La Hora

Joshua Hoyt, an organiser of protests in Chicago, is quoted as describing the protests as "a national movement for immigrants' justice, our generation's fight for civil rights".

In El Salvador, El Diario de Hoy, carries a report headlined "The exodus to the north - Highways of pain".

The report blames the migrant phenomenon on "the crisis of the rural sector and the lack of jobs".

Guatemala's La Hora links the US fear of illegal migrants to the war against terror, in a piece headlined "US fears the wooden horse of Troy".

Nicaragua's La Prensa publishes a report headlined "Nicas abroad - Hispanics show their power throughout the US".

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.