FOX: 'WE NEED YOUR TRUST'

WASHINGTON - Immigration reform may be too complex to complete by year's
end, President Bush said Thursday in response to the plea of visiting
Mexican President Vicente Fox. Undaunted, Fox told Americans "we need your
trust" to swiftly legalize millions of undocumented immigrants.

Seeking to ease decades of cross-boarder suspicion, Fox addressed a joint
meeting of Congress and then flew with Bush aboard Air Force One to address
Hispanic voters in Toledo, Ohio.

"The time has come for Mexico and the United States to trust each other,"
Fox said.

Bush embraced the Mexican's wish to soften U.S. immigration laws, but not
his goal to complete the work by year's end.

"This is an incredibly complex issue," the president said. One challenge
will be to legalize undocumented immigrants without being unfair to people
who have been following the rules and going through sluggish legal
channels, he said.

"To make matters even more complicated, we've got to work with the
Congress," Bush said, knowing conservatives in his own Republican Party
have led the fight against amnesty. "We've got to come up with a solution
that Congress can accept."

Administration officials said Bush was signaling to Fox - as he did in
private meetings - that striking an immigration deal probably will take
more than the four months remaining in 2001.

Even so, Bush made sure Fox did not go home empty handed from a 62-hour
trip designed to silence critics who claim the Mexican president has not
lived up to his promise. In a joint news conference before their trip, Bush:

promised to veto a transportation spending bill unless Congress drops new
safety standards for Mexican trucks using U.S. roads;

urged lawmakers to suspend a program requiring Mexico to get annual
certification that it has cooperated in the war against drugs;

tried to shield Fox from blame over a sagging Mexican economy, noting that
U.S. financial prospects affect other nations. Gesturing at Fox, the
president said, "He's getting blamed for something that's taking place in
America."

Fox also got a ride aboard Marine One, the helicopter that was parked on
the South Lawn to sweep the leaders away to Air Force One and Ohio.

U.S. presidents rarely travel with their counterparts, but Bush wanted to
put on a good show for Fox, his countrymen and Hispanic voters in America -
the fastest growing voting bloc.

Bush won Ohio during last year's presidential election, but Democrat Al
Gore won Toledo, where Hispanics make up 5.5 percent of the population.
Nationwide, Hispanics make up 12.5 percent of the population, a 60 percent
increase in a decade.

Framed by oversized U.S. and Mexican flags, Bush called Fox "mi amigo" and
"special visitor." Fox told the Toledo crowd that Americans need not be
afraid of eased immigration.

"I wanted to tell my paisanos in this part of the United States, that my
friend, President Bush, and myself will work, not only for your cause, but
also for the cause of the United States and the cause of Mexico," Fox said.

Standing before Congress hours earlier, Fox said worries in the U.S. and
Mexico are deeply rooted in mistrust by people of both countries.