http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/114214

Published: 02.03.2006

U.S. offers Mexico aid to halt drug violence
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza defended U.S. immigration and security policy Thursday, offering any help Mexico may need to battle drug violence along the two countries' common border.

Garza's statement was more conciliatory than his recent comments, including his recent complaint that immigrant and drug traffickers had the border in a "chokehold."

His public requests that Mexico do more to fight border violence have angered President Vicente Fox's administration, which has countered that the United States should pass an immigration reform allowing in more legal immigrants.

But in his statement Thursday, Garza argued that both countries want the same thing: a secure border, with orderly immigration.

"In any long-term and meaningful friendship, difficult discussions are inevitable," Garza said. "I have tried to speak openly and honestly these past few weeks about America's need for a secure border and legal immigration. It is important to remember in our discussions on immigration that efforts by the United States to stop illegal immigration do not amount to an attack on immigration as a whole. "

Garza also pointed out that President Bush defended immigrants in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, arguing that the U.S. economy couldn't function without foreign-born workers.

In a video conference from France, Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said he was heartened by Bush's comments, saying it showed that "the president of the United States recognizes what we have been saying for a long time."

Mexico has long pushed the United States to allow more people to work legally within its borders, and Bush has proposed giving temporary visas to those who seek out jobs legally.