It’s not that Felipe Calderon has a problem with tough immigration laws or unfair treatment of migrants. No, the president of Mexico only has a problem when tough immigration laws are implemented in the United States. After all, that may result in millions of low-skilled workers and their families flowing back into their home country.

But wait. What’s that about unfair treatment of migrants? Actually, it goes beyond “unfair treatment”. Late last month, Amnesty International declared a “human rights crisis” over the treatment of migrants in Mexico. A sample of the “widespread” problem:

The Mexican authorities must act to halt the continuing abuse of migrants who are preyed on by criminal gangs while public officials turn a blind eye or even play an active part in kidnappings, rapes and murders, Amnesty International said in a new report released on Tuesday…

“Migrants in Mexico are facing a major human rights crisis leaving them with virtually no access to justice, fearing reprisals and deportation if they complain of abuses,” said Rupert Knox, Mexico Researcher at Amnesty International.

“Persistent failure by the authorities to tackle abuses carried out against irregular migrants has made their journey through Mexico one of the most dangerous in the world.”

Kidnappings of migrants, mainly for ransom, reached new heights in 2009, with the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) reporting that nearly 10,000 were abducted over six months and almost half of interviewed victims saying that public officials were involved in their kidnapping.

Amnesty International says an estimated 60% of migrant women and girls who travel through Mexico endure sexual assault. And it gets worse:

Veronica (not her real name) said that Federal Police forced her and the other migrants to leave the train and lie face down on the ground, before stealing their belongings and threatening to kill them unless they continued their journey by foot along the railway.

After walking for hours, the group was assaulted by armed men who raped Veronica and killed at least one other migrant.

Two suspects were later detained after a local activist helped the migrants file a complaint but no action was taken against the Federal Police, despite migrants identifying two officers allegedly involved.

Mexican Federal Police robbed the migrants, threatened to kill them, left them for dead, and then took no action when armed men raped and killed several of them.

And where’s Felipe Calderon? In the United States, condemning Arizona for allowing police to check the legal status of suspects. Talk about your misplaced priorities.