GROUP URGES HELP FOR U.S. RESIDENTS IN JUAREZ

A group of Mexican businessmen pressed U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes on
Thursday to do more to protect people with dual nationalities who flee
Juarez or still go there.

Members of La Red, an El Paso political group of Mexican
professionals, asked Reyes, D-Texas, to implement an emergency system
to contact U.S. law enforcement when kidnappings occur. Some
professionals also pushed him to ask U.S. agencies in Juarez to become
more involved in protecting U.S. citizens and residents working in
Mexico.

Reyes said that U.S. law enforcement agencies in Juarez do important
work but that they have limitations.

"We are making an effort to gather intelligence," he said. "We can
alert police when an event occurs, but the problem is they don't
respond on time."

The FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration have agents in
Juarez, but they can't perform police work because of national
sovereignty issues.

A member of La Red, who did not want to be named because of security
concerns, said he was kidnapped last November and broke free from his
abductor. He has dual citizenship.

Gerardo Rodriguez, editor of El Diario de El Paso and also affiliated
with La Red, pressed Reyes for better treatment of border-crossers on
the part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

Judith Torres, a member of La Red, or the network, also asked Reyes to
implement a one-stop shop where people looking to invest in a new
business in El Paso can consult with experts on immigration law.
Torres is opening a jewelry store at Sunland Park Mall.

For a real change in policy that would help more Mexican nationals
immigrate to the United States, the two nations would need to declare
a state of emergency, Reyes said.

"It would need to pass in Congress a temporary law just like it
happened with the Cubans," he said. During the Cold War, the United
States granted asylum to Cubans fleeing for political reasons from the
communist regime of Fidel Castro.