Border mountains: Popular with illegal immigrants

Mexican Foreign Minister Rosario Green said about 450 immigrants had been rounded up illegally by US ranchers, mostly in Arizona, since January 1999 - with two dead and seven injured.

The issue is set to dominate a one-day meeting between officials from both governments in Washington on Thursday.

During the same meeting, the US is set to ask Mexican officials to step up its own efforts to stop the flood of illegal immigrants.

Fair treatment

About nine million Mexicans live in the US.

Many of them do not have resident permits and enter the country as illegals through the desert and inhospitable moutain ranges along the 3,000km border.

[Ranchers] must understand that people entering the US illegally have universal rights that we must respect

David Gonzalez US Border Patrol

Since 1994 more than 450 migrants have died along the border region, mainly from hypothermia and sunstroke, according to Mexico's National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH).

Mexico has long been demanding a fair treatment of its citizens.

But the US critics say Mexico must carry the blame for the fact that hundreds of its citizens try to sneak across the frontier every day in search of jobs and livelihoods.

Mexico has accused American ranchers of mounting a vigilante camapign against illegal immigrants who trespass on their land.

Ranchers say their immigrant round-ups are in response to the lack of action by the US Border Patrol.

They accuse the illegal immigrants of damaging their property.

Crimes

The Mexican foreign minister says that the ranchers were committing crimes under state law ranging from illegal detention to aggravated assault.

She added that a UN special envoy for immigration issues would visit the US-Mexico border to look into the accusations.

The Mexican Government has also contracted US lawyers to put together a case against the ranchers.

The US border patrol office in Arizona says its agents capture and return about 22,000 illegal immigrants a month.

The illegal trade of immigrants is so lucrative, the office says, that new gangs are taking on the role of the traditional people who used to led the Mexican through the border.

The American officials also say that the rachers must respect the immigrants.

"[The ranchers] must understand that people entering the United States illegally have universal rights that we must respect," said Border Patrol spokesman, David Gonzalez.

Drug trafficking, Mexican tuna exports and cross-border traffic are also on the agenda of the annual US-Mexican Binational Meeting.