FOX STRESSES 'TRUST BETWEEN NEIGHBORS'

Mexico's Leader Makes Case For Legal Status For Illegals

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mexican President Vicente Fox pressed his case for
immigration overhaul to Congress on Thursday, urging greater trust between
neighbors as the basis for "a new partnership in North America." Speaking
in English, Fox told a joint session of the Senate and House, "The time has
come for Mexico and the United States to trust each other."

"Trust will be essential to achieve our goals," he said.

The charismatic former Coca-Cola executive, on the second day of a state
visit, made his case for opening the way for many of the estimated 3
million Mexicans now in the United States illegally to gain legal status.

On Wednesday, Fox had taken Bush administration officials by surprise by
suggesting that immigration overhaul be completed by the end of this year.

He did not mention such a timetable in his remarks.

Sentiment in Congress runs strong on both sides of the immigration issue.
And administration officials have suggested it was unlikely that a formula
could be worked out by the end of this year given divisions on the amnesty
issue in Congress.

Fox believes those Mexicans in the United States are entitled to legalized
status.

He switched back and forth between English and Spanish.

Fox said that he and President Bush in recent months "have already shown
our willingness to trust each other by agreeing to discuss this most
complex matter."

"As the history of this country shows, migration has always rendered more
economic benefits to the United States than the cost it entails."

"Many among you have a parent or a grandparent who came into this country
as an immigrant from another land," he said.

And, in remarks aimed at the Mexicans in the United States, Fox said:
"Mexico needs you. We need your talent and entrepreneurship. We need you to
come home one day and play a part in building a strong Mexico"

He said he recognized that many on both side of the 2,000-mile-long border
viewed closer ties "risky and perhaps even unwise."

But he said he didn't believe the adage that "good fences make good neighbors."

"Circumstances have changed. We are now bound closer together . . . our
links are countless and growing," he said.

Turning to the war on drugs, Fox said that "cooperation in the war against
drugs "is not a nicety. It is a necessity"

He urged Congress to pass a pending law that would suspend for three years
the U.S. law that requires Mexico to obtain an annual certification that it
is cooperating on the war of drugs.

Saying the U.S.-Mexican partnership was "still incomplete," Fox said there
were still unresolved issues. He noted U.S. restrictions on Mexican trucks.

"No two nations are more important to the immediate prosperity and well
being of one another than Mexico and the United States," said.

His speech lasted about 30 minutes. In his address, Fox used the word
"trust" at least 25 times.

"Simple trust -- that is what has been sorely absent in our relationship in
the past," he said.

Fox's speech was interrupted at least 11 times by applause. From the podium
of the House of Representatives, Fox addressed a packed gathering of House
and Senate members, the president's Cabinet and a delegation of diplomats.

Fox thanked his audience for the applause and said it was "heard by 100
million Mexicans." Then he switched to Spanish for the rest of his speech.

"It is our very firm wish as Mexicans and Americans to establish a new
relationship, a more mature, full and equitable relationship based on
mutual trust," Fox said.

A Mexican official said last-minute changes were being made in Fox's speech
shortly before his arrival at the Capitol.

On the divisive immigration issue, Bush agrees in principle with Fox that
Mexican immigrants deserve a better break.

But the two sides have yet to get down to details. There has been no formal
discussion of how many Mexicans living illegally in the United States
should benefit. Another key change would allow large numbers of Mexicans to
cross the border as temporary guest workers.

Bush, toasting Fox at a White House state dinner Wednesday night, said
U.S.-Mexican ties "go beyond economics and politics and geography. They are
the ties of heritage, culture and family." He said nearly 1 million people
cross the border every day, and a quarter trillion dollars worth of trade
flows across each year.

Afterward, the Mexican president planned to join Bush on a trip to Toledo,
Ohio, a Democratic and union stronghold with a large and growing Hispanic
population.

The two presidents were scheduled to visit with children at a Hispanic
community center in Toledo, speak at a university and release a joint
communique outlining their immigration goals.

One big hurdle immigration reform advocates face is opposition from House
Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who said last
month there is no chance of enacting reform legislation until Congress
approves reform of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., told Bush on Tuesday he
believes the Senate, as a gesture to Fox, should pass a bill to extend the
deadline by an extra year for illegal immigrants to apply for visas.

He wants the Senate to act before Fox's departure from Washington on Friday.