Why not? In the 1970s the Cubans were everywhere

Mexico and Cuba have a new plan for emigration to the United States. They're going to stop it. Well, at least for Cubans. (ht: Owen)

The agreement, signed at a ceremony in Mexico City, restricts the main exit route for thousands of Cubans as many travel via Mexico.

Mexico's past reluctance to halt the practice has led to tensions with Cuba.

More than 11,000 Cubans slipped into the US via Mexico last year, according to US authorities.

Correspondents say most evade immigration officials, and that the few who are caught are rarely deported. In most cases, they are given transit permits allowing them to reach the US border, they say.

So let me get this straight. The Mexican government encourages their citizens to flee to the United States, but they’re going to somehow stop the Cubans from crossing the border?

So the solution to our illegal immigration problem is bribe Cuba into making every Mexican a Cuban citizen.

Rome too crowded? Try Mexico City

The New York Times suggests Holy Week is a great time to see the architecture of Mexico City.

The religious architectural philosophy in Mexico City has generally been to reach for the skies. A hefty chunk of all the gold and silver extracted from colonial Mexico went into creating some of the largest, most extravagant churches of the time, and much of Mexico City’s skyline is still defined by its church towers and steeples.

Defending our border

If Mexico cannot control it's side of the border, will it be up to the United States? Increasingly, the US Border Patrol has come under attack from projectiles from the Mexican side of the border, and now the border patrol is retaliating with tear gas.

The Border Patrol says its agents have been attacked nearly 1,000 times during a one-year period.

The agency's top official in San Diego, Mike Fisher, said agents are taking action because Mexican authorities have been slow to respond. When an attack happens, he said, American authorities often wait hours for them to come, and help usually never arrives.

"We have been taking steps to ensure that our agents are safe," Fisher said.

Mexico's acting consul general in San Diego, Ricardo Pineda, has insisted that U.S. authorities stop firing onto Mexican soil. He met with Border Patrol officials last month after the agency fired tear gas into Mexico. The agency defended that counterattack, saying agents were being hit with a hail of ball bearings from slingshots in Mexico.

U.S. officials say the violence indicates that smugglers are growing more desperate as stepped-up security makes it harder to sneak across the border. The assailants try to distract agents long enough to let people dash in the United States.

Unfortunately, innocent people get caught in the middle.

Benito Arias said his 19-year-old sister-in-law fainted during an apparent tear gas attack about two weeks ago. The woman, five months pregnant, was given oxygen at the hospital.

His father, Jose Arias, fled with his wife a few blocks away, where paramedics checked their blood pressure. He said he sympathizes with the Border Patrol because Mexican authorities do nothing to prevent people from hurling rocks over the fence at agents.

"This is a matter between government and government," said Arias, 75. "They have to work out an agreement. We are innocent. What can we do about it?"

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