Pubdate: Fri, 07 Sep 2001
Source: New York Times (NY)
Section: International
Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author:  Ginger Thompson

FOX URGES CONGRESS TO GRANT RIGHTS TO MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 -- President Vicente Fox of Mexico urged a joint 
meeting of Congress today to grant legal rights to millions of undocumented 
Mexican immigrants, saying they bring large economic and cultural benefits 
to the United States.

"Let me be clear about this," Mr. Fox said. "Regularization does not mean 
rewarding those who break the law. Regularization means that we give legal 
rights to people who are already contributing to this great nation."

Alternating almost seamlessly between Spanish and English, he asked 
Congress for stronger ties and greater trust between the United States and 
Mexico. It is a theme that has been highlighted on his first official visit 
to Washington.

Mr. Fox also urged the legislators to show confidence in his government, 
the first to be led by a president elected from the opposition, by 
supporting legislation that would exempt Mexico from the United States's 
drug certification program and that would allow Mexican trucks on American 
highways.

President Bush, playing host for the first state visit of his 
administration, expressed support for Mr. Fox's proposals and said he 
understood the Mexican leader's urgency. He warned Congress that he would 
veto an appropriations bill that would ban Mexican trucks from the United 
States.

Mr. Bush also called the drug certification process counterproductive and 
unfair to Mexico. Every year since 1986, the White House has had to certify 
to Congress that Mexico is doing its part in the war on drugs.

"We are committed to becoming a true partner with the United States in the 
fight against drugs," Mr. Fox said. "But trust requires that one partner is 
not unilaterally judged by another." On Mr. Fox's quest to reach an 
agreement on the immigration issue by the end of the year, Mr. Bush said, 
"I want to accommodate my friend." Then he explained the political struggle 
ahead.

"This is an incredibly complex issue," Mr. Bush said. "It is complex to the 
point where my administration is going to spend a lot of time on resolving 
that type of question. But to make matters even more complicated, we've got 
to work with the Congress, and we've got to come up with a solution that 
Congress can accept."

Legislators seemed divided along party lines on Mr. Fox's proposals to 
expand programs for guest workers and to give legal work status to 3.5 
million Mexicans in the United States. Richard A. Gephardt, the House 
Democratic leader, said that he agreed with Mr. Fox's request for quick 
action on immigration and that he thought that legislation was possible by 
the end of the year.

But Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who heads the 
Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, said he opposed any amnesty for 
illegal immigrants.

Despite the partisan differences, legislators expressed admiration for Mr. 
Fox and for the ties that he has forged between the two countries that have 
shared a wall of distrust for much of the last century.

"The bottom line is the fences are going to go down between these two 
countries," Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, said. 
"And it's in the interest of both countries that we make it work."

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, called the speech 
"muy excelente."

Mr. Fox boasted of his legitimacy before American legislators. "The dream 
that for decades was unfulfilled is now a reality," he said, bringing 
legislators to one of three ovations.

It is a legitimacy that Mr. Fox hopes will help level the playing field in 
negotiations with the United States over contentious issues like narcotics 
trafficking and illegal immigration. He also hopes to turn the burgeoning 
feelings of trust between Washington and Mexico City into reforms and 
programs that will help lift his struggling nation out of social distress.

"Give trust a chance," he said, to more applause. "Give our two governments 
a chance."

In a joint statement released after the address, both presidents celebrated 
the "special friendship and authentic partnership" that they had achieved. 
The statement indicated that the two had reached accords on sharing assets 
seized in joint law-enforcement operations, on a $50 million college 
scholarship program to spur studies in economic development and the 
creation of a public-private alliance to generate growth in the private 
sector throughout Mexico.

The Mexican national security adviser, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, said the two 
governments had nearly worked out the organization of new binational 
law-enforcement units to combat intellectual property crimes, corruption 
and the smuggling of immigrants.

In his speech, Mr. Fox emphasized that his government had already 
demonstrated its commitment to fighting organized crime by arresting 
important drug traffickers and smugglers of immigrants over the nine months 
that he has been in office.

Calling the North American Free Trade Agreement an incomplete treaty, Mr. 
Fox urged legislators to back away from safety standards that have 
prohibited Mexican trucks from entering the United States.

He said he spoke in the name of 100 million Mexicans in his country seeking 
similar hopes for a more prosperous Mexico. But some of his most earnest 
pronouncements were directed at Mexicans who are living in the United 
States. He told the legislators that immigrants were always more of a 
benefit than a cost to the countries that receive them.

He said he was seeking measures that would lift the ceilings on the numbers 
of Mexicans who are granted permanent visas to the United States, expand 
opportunities for Mexican guest workers and save lives on the United 
States-Mexico border.

Reminding legislators of this country's immigrant past, Mr. Fox paid homage 
to "the brave men and women who had taken the challenge to build new lives 
for themselves and their families."

Then he spoke to Mexico's immigrants in the United States. "Mexico will 
never forget you," he said. "We will support you. And we will not fail."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager