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Mexico Seeks U.S. Immigration Changes
By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer
MEXICO CITY -
Mexico is holding out hope that Latin America will get more
attention during President Bush 's second term and obtain
changes in what a senior Cabinet minister calls "absurd" U.S.
immigration policies.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, Homeland Security Secretary
Tom Ridge and several other U.S. Cabinet members are expected
to begin a two-day visit to Mexico City starting Monday.
During the talks, Mexico will push for a long-awaited accord
on migrants' rights — and seek to put the region back on the
White House agenda.
"It's absurd that (the United States) is spending as much as
it's spending to stop immigration flows that can't be stopped
... instead of using that money on real threats that pose
risks for both countries," Interior Secretary Santiago Creel
said earlier this week.
Creel said he sensed "an openness to talking about immigration
issues" but warned against "raising expectations beyond what
is politically viable and really possible," a reference to
resistance among U.S. legislators, despite a pair of temporary
worker bills already before Congress.
Mexico acknowledged it suffered a setback in the Nov. 2
elections, when Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, a
ballot initiative aimed at keeping illegal immigrants from
voting and obtaining some government services.
The Arizona initiative would "foment racial discrimination and
limit (migrants') access to basic services like health and
education," Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a
news statement.
Despite the differences, Mexican officials say they may get
more attention in a second Bush term.
Recounting meetings between Latin American leaders this week,
Assistant Foreign Secretary Miguel Hakim said "there was talk
about hopes that Bush, after winning his second term, will
give Latin America much more emphasis and more U.S. action in
his last four years."
"A lot of presidents hope for this, and obviously, they're
going to be working together to achieve it," Hakim said.
President Vicente Fox — who historically has had a close
relationship with Bush — has said he could serve as point man
in that effort.
"Several Latin American presidents have asked Mexico to try to
strengthen the U.S. government's relations with Latin American
nations," Fox told participants at the recent Rio Group Summit
in Brazil. "We're going to try to be the bridge so that that
relationship can become much closer than it was over the last
three years."
While the Bush administration has had sometimes testy
relations with the leaders of Venezuela, Argentina and other
Latin nations, Mexico suffered perhaps the greatest
disappointment of the first Bush administration, when the
Sept. 11 terror attacks put Mexico's hopes of a comprehensive
migration accord on the back burner.
Mexico has responded by adopting a more piecemeal approach to
defending migrants. While the country once demanded "the whole
enchilada" in migration reform, Fox said this week "it's hard
to say how quick, how complete, how integral the accord will
be."
Creel said Mexico will also discuss security issues with U.S.
officials, including organized crime, arms and migrant
trafficking, and terrorism.
But it's clear migration is Mexico's main concern.
Fox said he has told Bush the next year will present "a window
of opportunity" for passing migration reforms, "given that
neither of our countries will be in elections."
That chance may not present itself again for some time, "so we
have a year to get this accomplished," he said.
"Relations with the United States are excellent, deep,
friendly, productive, and we have to be optimistic that we
will take advantage of this one-year window of opportunity we
have."
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