Mexican Official Assails Border Wall

MEXICO CITY — The U.S. decision to build a metal wall along the border near San Ysidro is not neighborly, a foreign ministry official said, according to a report Tuesday in the daily La Jornada.

Undersecretary Javier Barros Valero said the wall is "one more incident" illustrating the friction between Mexico and the United States over undocumented workers.

The 12-foot-high wall is "not an act of friendship or neighborliness," he told La Jornada at a conference on commerce Monday.

Barros said Mexico hopes the free trade accord it is negotiating with the United States and Canada will help improve the Mexican economy and mean fewer people crossing the border illegally in search of jobs.