All eight parties in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday endorsed a resolution condemning the wall, urging U.S. President George Bush to veto it and promoting bilateral cooperation on migration issues between the two countries.

President Bush signed the so-called Homeland Security budget bill on Wednesday authorizing funding for a fence, but legislation that specifies the details and a timetable for the actual construction is still pending.

"These physical barriers damage bilateral relations, which should be guided by mutual understanding, cooperation and shared responsibility," said Luis Fernando Rodríguez Ahumada, a deputy with the ruling National Action Party from the border state of Sonora. "This problem concerns both nations."

Samuel Aguilar Solís, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, echoed Rodríguez´s words during discussion of the resolution. "The phenomenon of migration won´t be solved with walls," he said. "It´s an issue for both countries and we have to deal with it within a diplomatic framework."

The Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) Deputy José Jacques y Medina used stronger language in supporting the resolution. "It should be known as the wall of death," he said, adding that the wall will divide the United States not just from Mexico but from the world. "It´s a wall against human rights, a wall against the (aspirations) of nations to live with honesty and economic justice."

Another PRD deputy, Cuauh- témoc Sandoval, said his party will pursue the idea of taking the United States to the international court in The Hague over the wall.