Mixed Reactions as Mexico Cautiously Welcomes US Immigration Reform Mark Stevenson and Adriana Gomez Licon - Associated Press
go to original April 18, 2013

A Mexican member of migrants organizations holds a sign during a protest in front of the US embassy against the trafficking of weapons to Mexico and the failure of the US immigration reform, on January 21, 2013, in Mexico City. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

MEXICO CITY — Mexicans reacted with cautious optimism to the immigration reform bill submitted to the U.S. Senate Wednesday, saying that while it proposes a long wait for migrants to gain U.S. citizenship, it at least gives them a stable path to do so.

"There are some people who would like to become citizens right away," said Ismael Mota Ortega, 48, who heads the Illinois federation of clubs of migrants from the central Mexico state of Zacatecas. "But there are others who see things sensibly, that you have to demonstrate that you can truly be a good citizen, step by step."

But Marco Antonio Castillo, who leads an advocacy group called the Popular Assembly of Migrant Families, complained about the numerous conditions the measure would impose on applicants, saying, "The immigration reform doesn't appear to be as just as possible."

"We don't want to be pessimistic, because this is an unusual step" to get a reform bill at least presented, Castillo said. "But it is fundamentally important that the demands of society be met."

Mexico's Foreign Relations Department welcomed the proposed reform, calling it "a positive step."

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