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 Editorials | At Issue | May 2006 
US Immigration Reform Question of Justice: Fox
 Reuters
| | Graphic showing the border between the US and Mexico. (AFP/Martin Megino) |
Mexican President Vicente Fox, on the eve of a visit to the United States to lobby for immigration reform, said on Monday legalizing the status of millions of Mexican workers is a question of justice.
Fox said he was optimistic about chances of winning comprehensive immigration reforms in the U.S. Congress, as a coalition of lawmakers pushes for an overhaul of immigration law in the Senate by the end of the week.
"This is an act of justice, an act that benefits both countries ... an act that recognizes the enormous contribution that our countrywomen and countrymen make to the U.S. economy," he said while touring energy projects in northern Mexico.
The U.S. Senate is debating legislation that combines tighter border controls with a guest worker program and other measures to give millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
If the Senate approves the package this week before it goes into recess, the stage would be set for difficult negotiations with the U.S. House of Representatives on a final package ahead of the U.S. congressional election in November.
The issue has been explosive on both sides of the border.
President Bush favors immigration reform similar to the measure before the Senate, but his plan to deploy the National Guard to the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border and build more fences there to keep illegal immigrants out raised hackles in Mexico.
Fox's government said last week it was sending a diplomatic note to express concern about the plans, after the U.S. Senate passed a bill to build 370 miles of new border fences.
With a July presidential election looming in Mexico, the welfare of some 10 million illegal Mexican immigrants in the United States is a major political issue. The opposition says Fox has not protested strongly enough against U.S. efforts to tighten the porous frontier.
On Monday Fox said he saw important legislative advances on the question of immigration reform but added that "the whole enchilada" had yet to be approved.
Fox's six-year term ends in December and under law he cannot seek re-election. |
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