Reuters: Bush reassures Fox on immigration debate
CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - U.S.
President George W. Bush reassured Mexican President
Vicente Fox on Thursday he was committed to getting the U.S. Congress to approve broad immigration reforms, including a guest worker program.
Speaking after talks with Fox in the Mexican resort of Cancun, Bush told reporters: "I'm confident we can get a bill done." He made no prediction on the timing of such legislation, which the U.S. Senate started debating on Wednesday.
Bush also praised Fox for pledging to do more to police the U.S.-Mexican border, the crossing point for most illegal immigrants entering the United States.
"I'm committed to having a comprehensive immigration bill on my desk, and by comprehensive I mean not only border security, a bill that has border security, a bill that has security enforcement in it, but a bill that has a worker permit program in it," Bush said.
Hosting a North American summit, Fox said border security was a shared responsibility and Mexico would do its part.
Mexicans account for more than half of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
"We want a safe border. We want it for the good of our people and also for our relationship with the United States," Fox said.
Republicans are split on whether to back Bush's call for sweeping reforms to create a guest worker program and put several million illegal immigrants on the path to citizenship.
Conservatives in Bush's party, normally his allies, reject that as a form of amnesty and seek instead to erect a fence along a third of the U.S.-Mexico border and make illegal immigration a felony. The issue has brought out tens of thousands of mostly Hispanic protesters in major U.S. cities.
With his job approval ratings at a low point, immigration is a new test of Bush's political strength at a time when his second term has been beset by woes.
ONE LAST PUSH
Fox, who has failed for five years to convince Washington to let more Mexicans get jobs in the United States legally, is making one more push before leaving office in December.
Bush, Fox and new Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper toured hot, dusty ruins at the Mayan archeological site of Chichen Itza ahead of meetings.
But the leaders climbed only a few of the 91 steps of the impressive El Castillo pyramid.
It was a rare sightseeing detour for Bush, who usually keeps to a tight diplomatic schedule, and raised speculation he was trying to revive a back-slapping relationship with Fox that saw them dubbed "the two amigos" at the start of their administrations.
Despite an increase in anti-U.S. feeling in Latin America in recent years, there were few protests in the resort, which is far from major Mexican cities and too expensive for most Mexicans to stay in.
About 50 anti-globalization protesters chanted "Bush, Murderer," at a demonstration in downtown Cancun, some 10 miles from the plush hotel strip where the leaders met.
Rifle-toting federal police in riot gear scuffled briefly with 30 Mayan handicraft sellers at Chichen Itza bearing signs that said "Bush, go home" and complaining of being barred from the site.
Mexicans once had high hopes for Bush, who took office promising to make America's southern neighbor a priority but pushed the region to the back burner after the September 11 attacks.
In Cancun, Mexican marines dressed in black patrolled the beach beside topless tourists. Spring break college students are fewer this year, with many hotels still closed after last October's Hurricane Wilma.
Harper, a conservative, said this week the Cancun summit would help build better relations with Washington after friction between Bush and former Prime Minister Paul Martin.
Bush hopes to solve a dispute with Canada over softwood lumber, but Canadian officials said a deal was unlikely in Cancun. Canada ships $6 billion in softwood lumber to the United States each year.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Greg Brosnan and Lorraine Orlandi)
