Mexico Optimistic for Immigrant Program
Staff and agencies
27 March, 2006
http://localnewsleader.com/jackson/stor ... &id=165119

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ

MEXICO CITY - Heartened by huge marches across the United States and President Bush ‘s support for a guest-worker program, Mexico remains optimistic the immigration bill in Congress can be transformed into something that will benefit millions of illegal migrants.

Mexican President Vicente Fox has been pushing for a migration accord that would grant legal status to many of the estimated 6 million undocumented Mexicans in the United States. He is likely to bring up the topic when he meets with Bush starting Thursday in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun.

Debate began Monday in the Senate on bills that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally, impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and erect additional fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Although a bill granting amnesty to illegal immigrants is unlikely to be approved by Congress, Fox has remained hopeful a guest-worker program will be put in place before he leaves office on Dec. 1.

If the United States approves a guest-worker program, it would bolster Fox‘s image and aid the prospects of Felipe Calderon, presidential candidate for Fox‘s National Action Party, or PAN, said George Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

But the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks turned the U.S. focus to enhanced border security, not immigration reform.

Immigration and border security — and the balance between the two — is expected to dominate the two days of meetings between Fox, Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Cancun.

The international community "must share responsibility so that those forced to migrate be regulated by plans that include respecting their dignity," Derbez said.

Among the report‘s suggestions are creating more jobs at home for would-be migrants and providing housing credits.

With Bush‘s approval ratings falling and Fox about to leave office, analysts say their summit this week will have little influence on the immigration debate.

"Bush is so weak that he won‘t be able to deliver on any of his promises," Grayson said. "You‘ve got one lame duck meeting with a probably lamer duck. What you‘ll see is two lame ducks fluttering around."