{
  "id": "RL31876",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31876",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101268,
      "date": "2004-12-22",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T20:01:20.948620",
      "title": "Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for the 108th Congress",
      "summary": "The United States and Mexico have a special relationship as neighbors and partners under the\nNorth\nAmerican Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The friendly relationship has been strengthened by\nPresident Bush's meetings with President Fox but has been weakened by disagreements over Iraq\nand other issues. Major congressional issues are trade, migration/border security, drug trafficking,\nand political issues.\n   Trade.  Since 1994, NAFTA institutions have been functioning, trade\n between the countries\nhas tripled, and allegations of violations of labor and environmental laws have been considered. The\nBush Administration has argued that NAFTA has had modest positive impacts on all three member\ncountries, but Mexican farmers have strongly criticized the effects of NAFTA. Recent trade disputes\nwith Mexico have involved trucking, telecommunications, tuna, sweeteners and sugar.\n   Migration/Border Security.  In February 2001, Presidents Bush and Fox\n agreed to establish\nhigh-level talks to ensure safe, legal, and orderly migration flows between the countries, but the talks\nstalled after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, and border controls were later strengthened under\nthe new Department of Homeland Security. In January 2004, President Bush proposed a major\nimmigration reform \"to match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers when no\nAmericans can be found to fill the jobs.\" In December 2004, Congress passed the Intelligence\nReform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 ( S. 2845 / P.L. 108-458 ), with provisions\nto increase immigration law enforcement personnel and to adopt more stringent border control and\nidentity document standards. \n   Drug Trafficking.  Bush Administration officials have regularly praised\n Mexico's\ncounter-narcotics efforts under Fox, especially action against major traffickers, and have\ncharacterized the bilateral cooperation in this area as unprecedented. The State Department reported\nin April 2004, however, that marijuana and opium poppy cultivation increased significantly in\nMexico in 2003. In recent law enforcement actions, on October 19, 2004, DEA officials announced\nthe dismantling, through Operation Money Clip, of a major Mexican money-laundering and drug\ntrafficking organization operating in the United States.\n   Political and Human Rights.  In nation-wide elections on July 6, 2003, to\n renew the Chamber\nof Deputies, President Fox's PAN fared poorly, while the previously dominant PRI and the leftist\nPRD increased representation, making congressional approval of President Fox's reform measures\nless likely. Local elections are being held in an environment in which the parties are positioning\nthemselves for the July 2006 presidential elections. On human rights issues, President Fox has\ndesignated special prosecutors to prosecute those responsible for human rights abuses in the 1970s\nand 1980s, but little progress has been made. On December 10, 2004, President Fox, responding to\nan analysis by the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights, presented a series of proposed reforms\nto discourage torture and to strengthen the rights of defendants in Mexico.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL31876",
          "sha1": "0cdddffb2abb44d82fb467da6a1fa4cc599618bd",
          "filename": "files/20041222_RL31876_0cdddffb2abb44d82fb467da6a1fa4cc599618bd.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31876",
          "sha1": "130a85f6ee79639a48d66c2724bc7fdbed8e854b",
          "filename": "files/20041222_RL31876_130a85f6ee79639a48d66c2724bc7fdbed8e854b.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5919/",
      "id": "RL31876 2004-10-26",
      "date": "2004-10-26",
      "retrieved": "2005-06-11T19:15:48",
      "title": "Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for the 108th Congress",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20041026_RL31876_cb81641ddbf77a07f560e9297a8b5822f5f48dfd.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20041026_RL31876_cb81641ddbf77a07f560e9297a8b5822f5f48dfd.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Foreign policy",
          "name": "Foreign policy"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Congress and foreign policy",
          "name": "Congress and foreign policy"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Foreign relations - Mexico - U.S.",
          "name": "Foreign relations - Mexico - U.S."
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Foreign relations - U.S. - Mexico",
          "name": "Foreign relations - U.S. - Mexico"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Congress",
          "name": "Congress"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Immigration Policy",
    "Intelligence and National Security"
  ]
}