¡¡MEXICO CITY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government criticized the U.S. state of Georgia on Tuesday for approving a law which imposed heavier penalties on undocumented migrants and made new demands on employers.

    Ruben Aguilar, spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox, told reporters that Mexico was worried that the law, "part of Georgia's legal arrangement," discriminated against Mexicans.

    Georgia's governor Sonny Perdue on Monday signed the Security and Immigration Law, which increases penalties on illegal migrants and their employers.

    The law requires verification of the legal status of people seeking many state-administered benefits for the first time. And employers will have to prove that their employees are legal in the nation.

    Aguilar said that the Mexican Foreign Ministry and the country's consulates in the United States would watch the application of the measures very closely.

    While Perdue signed the law, Janet Napolitano, the governor of Arizona, was vetoing an anti-immigrant initiative, Aguilar said.

    The Mexican government hoped that the U.S. Senate, which resumes discussion on a U.S.-wide migration bill on April 27, would approve a measure to satisfy Mexico's aspirations, Aguilar said. Enditem