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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2006 
Nation Optimistic on Migration Law
 Wire services/El Universal
| | Top officials have pointed to recent massive demonstrations in the United States as evidence the nations need an accord. (Al Seib/LAT) |
Heartened by huge marches in the United States and President George W. Bush´s support for a guest-worker program, Mexico remains optimistic that the immigration bill in the U.S. Congress can be transformed into something that will ultimately benefit millions of illegal migrants.
President Vicente Fox has been pushing for a migration accord that would grant some form of legal status to many of the estimated 6 million undocumented Mexicans in the United States. He is likely to raise the topic when he meets with Bush starting Thursday in the Caribbean resort city of Cancún.
"The recent demonstrations in different places in the United States show the imminent need for an immigration accord that meets the interests of both countries," presidential spokesman Rubén Aguilar said Monday.
The U.S. Senate on Monday began debating 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.
The debate began two days after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Los Angeles and cities across the United States to oppose stricter limits on illegal migrants.
Bush acknowledged on Monday that immigration reform "is not going to be easy" and warned critics against rousing anti-immigrant feelings by calling them a threat to the nation´s identity or a burden to the economy.
STILL HOPEFUL
Although a bill granting amnesty to illegal immigrants is unlikely to be approved by the U.S. Congress, Fox has remained hopeful a guest-worker program will be in place before he leaves office on Dec. 1.
Illegal migration also has emerged as a significant campaign issue ahead of Mexico´s July 2 presidential election.
The top candidates have pledged to bolster the economy and attract investment to make Mexican jobs attractive enough to keep people from heading north. Identical, unfulfilled promises abounded during earlier presidential campaigns, however.
A U.S. guest-worker program would bolster Fox´s image and aid Felipe Calderón, presidential candidate for Fox´s National Action Party, said George Grayson, a Mexico expert at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Fox began his term promising to fight for an immigration reform that would legalize the status of millions of Mexican migrants in the United States.
But the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks focused the United States on tightening border security, not immigration reform.
"Fox is looking for some way to be remembered in history, other than (being) the politician who ousted the PRI from power," Grayson said.
Immigration and border security are expected to dominate the two days of meetings between Fox, Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Cancún.
Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Monday that security should not be the only focus of the debate.
He said countries must work together to ensure "that those forced to migrate be regulated by plans that include respecting their dignity."
The United States has asked Mexico to do more to strengthen border security and Mexico´s Congress approved a document in February pledging to fight people-smuggling networks and to work closely with the United States to tighten border enforcement.
The report by a committee of Mexican legislators, officials, academics and activists suggested creating more jobs at home to attract would-be migrants and providing housing credits.
A portion of the report was published as a paid advertisement last week in major Mexican and U.S. newspapers.
With Bush´s approval ratings falling and with Fox about to leave office, analysts say their summit this week will do little to influence 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." |
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