Fox: U.S. Must Trust Mexico

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."

Fox told a joint meeting of the House and Senate, "The time has come for Mexico and the United States to trust each other."

But President Bush, in his first direct public response to Fox's call for a broad immigration agreement this year, wouldn't guarantee a final deal any time soon.

Mr. Bush called proposals to grant legal status to Mexicans now in the country illegally "an incredibly complex issue," CBS News Correspondent Peter Maer reports.

"There's obviously a sense of urgency in the president's message. I hear that sense of urgency and my administration is willing to work as hard as we can to get something done in a constructive fashion," said Mr. Bush.

However he suggested it was unlikely that Congress would be able to come up with a plan within a year, adding that he fully understands Fox's desire to expedite the process.

"We have heard his call," said Mr. Bush, flanked by Fox at a joint news conference.

On the second day of his visit to Washington, the first state visit of the Bush presidency, Fox asked for support for a migration accord that would grant legal status to 3 million Mexicans working illegally in the United States, mostly in low wage jobs.

He also urged the U.S. to suspend its annual test of Mexico's worthiness in the war on drug trafficking, an old source of friction between two neighbors.

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

There's an enormous political component to this state visit, reports CBS News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts and President Bush didn't miss a beat — parading his close friendship with Fox before Ohio's growing Mexican-American population.

"Today I bring a special visitor. Un amigo di mio y des Los Estados Unidos," said Mr. Bush.

Both leaders stand to gain from the relationship. Mr. Bush by connecting with Hispanic voters — crucial to his re-election bid; Fox through presidential support for his priorities of trade and immigration reform.

Mr. Bush, who played up his ties with Mexico to try to win Hispanic votes in last year's election, has supported an accord with Mexico that leads to more orderly, legal and humane migration.

But conservative Republicans have rejected an amnesty for undocumented Mexicans, favoring instead an expanded guest worker program to cover labor shortages in the U.S. economy.

Many Democrats, who are also vying for Hispanic votes, want an amnesty for all illegal immigrants, not just Mexicans.

Fox, who took office in December ending seven decades of often corrupt rule by Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party, pledged his full cooperation in the fight to stop drugs flowing into the United States across the Mexican border.

He said his government has arrested drug kingpins and extradited traffickers wanted in the United States. Mexican officials said Wednesday an unprecedented 14 extraditions have taken place since the beginning of the year.

"But trust requires that one partner not be judged unilaterally by the other," Fox said, pointing to the annual appraisal Washington makes of major drug trafficking and transit countries.

Fox urged passage of a bill currently before the Senate that would suspend the so-called drug certification of Mexico for three years.

"We ask that you demonstrate your trust in us by passing this legislation as a gesture of your faith and confidence in the new country we are working so hard to build," he said.

The drug appraisal has been a thorn in the side of U.S.-Mexico relations for a decade and a half.

But cases of high level corruption, including the 1997 arrest of Mexico's top drug enforcement official for being on the payroll of a drug cartel, have kept U.S. suspicions alive.

Mr. Bush backs suspension of the drug certification law for Mexico, but he aid Tuesday it was up to Fox to make his case to Congress.

Fox urged Congress to take a "bold" step and trust Mexico. "The partnership between Mexico and the United States is still incomplete," he said.

Presidents Fox and Bush have formed a strong personal bond in their first months in office. After visiting Capitol Hill, they headed together to Toledo, Ohio, to speak to Hispanic groups.

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