A/HRC/11/7/Add.2 page 8 20. During the mission the Special Rapporteur called on the Government of Mexico to reinstate the long-term process of reform of the General Population Act that would ensure that the most comprehensive protection would be afforded to migrants, whether documented or in a situation of irregular stay. As such, migrants would have the same rights as nationals of Mexico to file complaints and have access to redress mechanisms before the courts. 21. The Special Rapporteur takes special note of the subsequent efforts at revision following his visit, formalized on 22 July 2008, especially modifications passed by the Commission on Population and Development of the Senate of the Republic, to articles 118 and 125. He welcomes the efforts of the Senate to decriminalize irregular migration, making entering without documentation an administrative offence rather than criminal offence. He takes note of amendments to articles 19, 120, 121, 123, 124 and 127 of the Act that, inter alia, lessen penalties to migrants who enter Mexico without documentation. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes the landmark nature of such reforms, and calls on the Government of Mexico to implement them in accordance with international standards, especially the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. III. THE MEXICAN MIGRANT PHENOMENON 22. The multidimensional complexity of the Mexican migrant phenomenon can only be understood if one views Mexico as a country of origin, transit and destination. Mexican migration to the United States has occurred for centuries, creating a notable Mexican diaspora and population of Mexican-Americans (also known as chicanos). Over 1 million people migrate to the United States annually, and the last survey by the U.S. Census Bureau (2003) on the foreign-born population in the country estimated that over 50 per cent of this population are from Mexico and Central America; many more attempt entry into the United States but are deported or deterred before entry, creating intense pressure at the United States-Mexico border - not only at border posts in Tijuana, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juárez, but also in the more remote desert and river areas that border California, Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico, which are subject to increasing surveillance. 23. Mexico also receives a significant number of migrants, especially through the southern border, but due to its porosity it is impossible to know precisely how many migrants enter and for what reasons, whether for temporary stay (tourists and commercial traders), to use Mexico as a country of transit toward the United States, or to fill the labour gap in the agricultural industry, for example, left by the significant population of Mexicans who have departed. Rough estimates indicate that the number of these “southern” migrants could be around 400,000 in transit annually. According to INM, in the period from January to December 2007, 50,598 foreign nationals were detained in the southern border region and 45,785 were repatriated or deported. These flows create pressure on the Mexico-Guatemala border, not only at the crossings of Talismán and Ciudad Hidalgo, but also the unofficially regulated river and jungle crossings bordering Guatemala and Belize. 24. Within these general trends, one sees several dimensions of mixed migration flows: creation of a northward pattern of migration from Mexico to the United States; establishment of