Fox calls Bush "Jorge" (my title)

Reuters ^

[madrussian]

By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) - Mexican President Vicente Fox (news - web sites), the first state visitor of the Bush presidency, challenged the United States on Wednesday to strike an agreement on immigration by year's end. President Bush (news - web sites) said ``there is no more important relationship'' than with Mexico but did not embrace Fox's ambitious deadline.

The public challenge stunned U.S. officials who have been trying to lower expectations for a deal on the complex and politically risky issue that could legalize millions of undocumented Mexicans. Even some Mexican officials said they had no notice that Fox would push for quick action.

The two-day state visit, an important political event to both Bush and Fox, began promptly at 9:30 a.m. EDT when a military band struck up a Sousa march and the two presidents strolled shoulder to shoulder onto the White House back lawn. Military honor guards stood stone-faced as their battle ribbons, jostled atop flag poles by a cool wind, whipped at their faces.

Bush, hoping to court Hispanic voters for his 2004 re-election bid, said Wednesday's formal welcoming ceremony, one-on-one Oval Office session, rare joint Cabinet meeting and state dinner - along with his and Fox's joint trip Thursday to Ohio - amounted to a ``recognition that the United States has no more important relationship in the world.''

With all the pageantry a president can muster, Bush welcomed Fox to what he called the ``Casa Blanca'' and said, ``We understand that our two nations must work together in a spirit of respect and common purpose to seize opportunities and tackle challenges on the issues that affect the lives of our citizens, including migration, the environment, drugs, crime, corruption and education.''

That included just a glancing reference to the issue that dominates U.S.-Mexican relations: What should be done with the 3 million or so illegal Mexican immigrants who want legal status in America, and millions more in Mexico who want to cross the 2,000-mile border? The president wants an undetermined number of illegal immigrants to become legal.

A joint statement being released Thursday as Bush and Fox tour a Hispanic community center in Toledo, Ohio, commits the pair to forging a ``realistic approach to migration'' that respects ``the human dignity of all migrants, regardless of their (legal) status.''

With a dozen anti-immigration protesters outside the White House gates, Bush and first lady Laura Bush threw Fox an intimate state dinner with an extraordinary finale of fireworks on the South Lawn.

Raising a glass of 7-Up, the teetotaling Bush toasted Fox ``friend to friend, partner to partner, neighbor to neighbor.'' Fox returned the compliment, calling Bush ``Jorge'' and someone he trusts to take action on the immigration problem.

Bush's trip to Mexico in February raised hopes in both countries that an agreement would come quickly, but the leaders have sounded more cautious in recent weeks as congressional conservatives raised objections.

On the eve of their meetings, Bush said the complexity of the issue bars a quick deal and acknowledged that he has ``a lot more selling to do'' in Congress. Fox said Sunday it would take four to six years to complete a comprehensive U.S.-Mexican immigration overhaul.

Flanked by Bush in front of the Truman Balcony, Fox seemed to set a more aggressive timetable.

``We must and we can reach an agreement on migration before the end of this very year which will allow us, before the end of our respective terms, to make sure that there are no Mexicans who have not entered this country legally in the United States and that those Mexicans who have come into the country do so with the proper documents,'' said Fox. His term ends in 2006.

Fox appeared to be calling for an agreement that would be ready for consideration by the respective legislatures of the two countries before the end of the year. But U.S. officials have said that details such as timetables and the numbers of Mexicans who would be eligible have not yet been broached.

Fox believes Mexicans in the United States are not being treated fairly. He says U.S laws should be amended so that migrants receive health, education and labor rights and can work without fear of deportation.

Several administration officials said afterward they would have preferred to avoid the added pressure of a public deadline. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it is impossible to predict whether a comprehensive agreement can be reached this year, given the unease in Congress and fluidity of the talks.

Bush, asked whether he thought Fox's timetable was too ambitious, pretended not to understand the question and joked in Spanish, ``I can't hear.''

His national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites), said it would be nice to reach an agreement by year's end, but cautioned, ``The president shares the desire to do it quickly, but to get it right.'' Bush and Fox will release broad outlines of their immigration goals while touring a Hispanic community center in Toledo on Thursday.

Prodding Bush, House Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said he hopes to pass a bill during Fox's visit that would extend by a year the deadline for illegal immigrants to apply for visas.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the congressional immigration reform caucus, said the prospects are not good for congressional approval of legislation that would legalize undocumented Mexican aliens.

People should not be rewarded who ``forget about American law, sneak into the country and avoid detection,'' he said.

Bush has acknowledged such concerns, but nonetheless says it would be in the nation's interest to match hardworking Mexicans with American employers.

Fox's remarks reflected the political pressures he faces at home to strike an agreement with Bush. He hopes to quiet critics in Mexico who say he promised much during his landmark election campaign and has delivered little.

[L.N. Smithee]

This illustrates the difference between the Bush and Clinton White Houses. With Bush, you get "Jorge." With Clinton, you got "Hey, whore!"

[Mercuria]

So how did the moneyless Central American Illegals get past the Mexican Border patrol and hundreds of miles North to invade America?

How can you doubt that the border pirates are simply doing this out of the high generosity and tenderness beating in the big, loving hearts lying 'neath those "diamond in the rough" exteriors, you bad cynic, you?

< /sarcasm >

[sarcasm]

Take a look at this crap:

September 6, 2001

Lawmakers Seem Impressed by Fox

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 4:44 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was a ``boffo'' performance, said Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, among the lawmakers impressed by Mexican President Vicente Fox's speech Thursday to a joint meeting of Congress.

``For him to say, `We are changing, this is an opportunity, trust us,' I'm willing to do that,'' said Lott, R-Miss.

Fox's speech was built around the notion that a new era of trust must begin between the United States and Mexico after long years of suspicion. He used the word ``trust'' at least 25 times in his half-hour appearance.

The turnout of senators and House members was large. Fox was interrupted by applause 11 times.

Fox, on a state visit, touched on all the issues the two countries are grappling with -- migration, drug trafficking, truck safety. He said that Mexico has not done a good job in the past in tackling corruption and in eliminating poverty.

Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was a well known Mexico-basher until Fox's election last year.

He saw Fox's victory as a democratic breakthrough after 71 years of one-party rule. On Thursday, Helms said he liked what Fox had to say.

``It was not only well prepared, you could tell he meant it,'' Helms said. ``I think he's a great leader.''

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., interviewed by Mexican television, said Fox's speech was ``muy excelente'' -- very excellent.

``Certainly two great nations need to step back, and reassess our policies of the past to build trust,'' Hastert said.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, expressed support for Fox's hope for migration reform.

``The bottom line is the fences are going to go down between these two countries, and it's in the interests of both countries and both peoples that we make it work,'' said Lieberman, D-Conn.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., chairman of the congressional immigration reform caucus, was unimpressed. He criticized Fox's insistence that undocumented Mexican aliens not be treated as lawbreakers but instead be granted legal status.

``They should return home,'' Tancredo said. His formula for keeping migrants out in the first place, he said, is to ``station troops at the border.

``It's absolutely legal and accepted to use your armed forces to enforce your border,'' he said. ``If we're not going to enforce our border, let's simply erase it.''

[madrussian]

You sound like a con artist with your appeals to heart and "future benefits". Prove your case, or shut up.

[KirklandJunction]

I've been in those real bars. They're not mythical. Not at those prices.

I've talked to border-crossers. I speak enough Mexican to know when I'm talking to somebody from somewhere else.

Aw, never mind.

Just to sling the mud, as somewhat per your example, I guess your rudeness is typical of a mentally deranged commy. Aren't all Russians communists? Stalinist anti-christian pagan anti-Americans?

Sooo, I guess I really don't want to chat with a pagan anti-christian anti-american Stalinist!

Cheers!

Adios!

[Republic]

foreign country with the intent of staying there permanently

Who says permanently? And how do you know that you would not do ANYTHING to feed your family-you intention would not be to hurt anyone-but to WORK, WORK....and WORK. Build your Berlin wall (Mexican Wall), if you must because sharing the bounty, the jobs as it were, worries you. People are coming to FEED their families- most men and women would not worry about an immigration law when faced with a hungry child.

[Republic]

You sound like a con artist with your appeals to heart and "future benefits". Prove your case, or shut up.

Tsk, tsk....I think I already have.

[Mercuria]

'Cente is the President
Of Mexicans both there and 'sent'
While Jorge pays them from the 'dole'
And cannot seem to take control -
What a crazy pair!

But they're LEADERS...identical LEADERS all the way!
One pair of matching bookends...diff'rent as night and day!

[ValerieUSA]

Do you know any American history at all? In 1732, England opened Georgia as a penal colony. England began using Australia as a penal colony after 1787 because its prisons had become dangerously overcrowded when America was no longer available as a dumping ground for "undesirables."

[L.N. Smithee]

And you have no heart nor do you have the ability to grasp the greater good, the 'down the road' benefits to all by helping a bordering nation grow in economic health with a solid dose of friendship thrown in for good measure.

Is the USA to blame for Mexico's plight? Yes or no.

[Mercuria]

I think you will find that most of our ancestors came here because of extreme oppression in their own countries and because they wished to become legal citizens here - NOT because they were "starving" and felt justified in sneaking around under the radar to pick the pockets of our nation's citizens.

[gjenkins]

The tall one?

[Republic]

This illustrates the difference between the Bush and Clinton White Houses.
With Bush, you get "Jorge." [pronounced whore-hey]
With Clinton, you got "Hey, whore!"

Now that.....is funny!

[FreedomSurge]

"I hope that you enjoy paying $ 30 BILLION annually to provide government benefits "

But according to Daschle they pay $700 million in taxes. So the American tax payer is only $29.3 BILLION in the hole.

[Mercuria]

Jesus would never be in politics.

Amen...but if He were, we'd probably never hear the end of it on here about what a moralizing prig He is and how He could just NEVER be a winning candidate with that kind of judgmental attitude.

[Republic]

There will never be a real middle class in Mexico or any other Third World country. The same thing was said about the early settlers in America as the rich landlords, the 1% (actually less) had everything and the rest of the folks often starved during harsh weather conditions. Golly-look what happened.

Are you saying we are not a great enough nation to help our NEIGHBOR to the south build a middle class? You would put that kind of a limit on this terrific, if flawed, nation? Gish..... We know we have the milk, and honey, here...perhaps what we need is for people like you to get some hope and expand your thinking in terms of final outcome and possibilities. Don't let creeps shut you down.

[Mercuria]

Don't blame the immigrants. Blame the corrupt despots in their own countries that give them the incentives to leave home for a hostile land where they have to work like dogs.

If Mexico is such a hellhole as you describe, maybe we shouldn't be treating Fox as if he were El Salvador completely stuffed with pearls of wisdom.

He's part of the problem.

[McGavin999]

Having some kind of registration would be a GOOD thing. Right now, we have millions of illegals here in the US and there is no way to track who they are or what they are doing here. If there were some kind of guest worker registration it would solve an awful lot of problems and would cut down on the criminals and drug dealers.

BTW madrussion, I guess now that you got in, you don't want anyone else to be able to get in, is that it?

I live in Arizona where we have one of the worst problems with illegals, I would love it if they would come up with a guest worker arrangement. I'm even for issuing drivers licenses marked "Guest Worker" and making sure that all laws are adhered to. It would even cut down on the illegal voting because if you were caught, you'd have your work permit revoked and never be able to one on issued again. It would solve a lot of problems.