http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3736789.html

WASHINGTON - After six years of frustration in trying to get a guest
worker agreement for Mexicans entering the United States, the Mexican
government on Monday took its case directly to the American people.

In a full-page newspaper advertisement adorned with the Mexican
national seal and titled "A Message from Mexico about Migration," the
nation reaffirmed a commitment to securing its borders and asked
Americans to cooperate on a solution to immigration problems.

If the United States will allow enough Mexican workers in legally, said
the ad published in the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles
Times, Mexico will do its part to keep other would-be migrants at home.

"Our message to America is very simple: We are your friends and
neighbors. Let's work together on this," Mexican Ambassador Carlos de
Icaza told the Houston Chronicle. "If we can be partners in trade,
partners in the fight against terrorism and against organized crime,
why can't we be partners in achieving an orderly, humane, legal,
dignified migration between our countries?"

The ads came as U.S. and Mexican Cabinet-level officials prepare for
their annual Bi-National Commission meetings in Washington on Friday to
discuss immigration and other issues.

Also, President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox are scheduled to
meet in Cancun, Mexico, next week, along with Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, to discuss trade and security issues.

The U.S. Senate begins debate next week on immigration legislation that
likely will include some type of guest worker plan — a component left
out of the House's border security bill.

Advocates of a guest worker plan hope one would emerge from talks over
differences in the House and Senate bills.

But a taste of the opposition to a guest worker plan was evident in a
statement Friday from Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a leading advocate of
a crackdown on illegal immigration.


Bush seeks civil debate

"Our legal immigration system is overwhelmed and undermanned as it is
without adding millions of immigrants to it," he said. " ... Americans
have waited long enough for strong borders — the ball is in the
Senate's court, and we're all waiting for them to deliver."

Bush, in Ohio Monday for a speech on fighting terrorism, urged U.S.
lawmakers to keep the heated immigration debate civil.

"Remember, we've been through these periods before, where the
immigration debate can get harsh. And it should not be harsh," he said.

Bush, who in general favors a guest worker plan, reiterated his view
that there should be no amnesty for the estimated 12 million immigrants
in the country illegally. But, he said, some Mexicans coming to the
United States to work "ought to be given a foolproof card that says you
can come for a limited period of time and do work in a job an American
won't do."

He said such a system would mean the borders will be more secure
because U.S. agents "won't be chasing people being smuggled in
18-wheelers or across the Arizona desert. They'll be able to focus on
drugs and terrorists and guns."

The newspaper ad commits Mexico to creating an economic and social
environment that will encourage people to stay in Mexico to work and
stepping up the fight against criminal organizations that smuggle
migrants and falsify documents.

To encourage migrant workers to return to Mexico, the ad suggests,
Mexico could make it easier for migrants to build homes in their
hometowns while working in the U.S.

The two countries also could work together to develop programs to
provide medical insurance for migrants and their relatives and to allow
them to collect their U.S.-earned pension benefits when they return to
their home country.

"We are just informing, respectfully, American lawmakers on how we
think Mexico can be of help," de Icaza said.

Next week, he added, "it's up to the Senate. I hope they will be able
to get consensus."

patty.reinert@chron.com


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