The United States is considering giving legalized residency - but not citizenship - to about 15 percent of undocumented workers, and may increase the number of temporary work visas, the new U.S. ambassador-designate said in interviews published Saturday.
The informal proposals fall far short of the comprehensive immigration accord Mexico had sought, but represent a step forward on an issue that is desperately important for President Vicente Fox, and one which has been basically stalled since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Tony Garza, who won Senate confirmation Tuesday and is expected to arrive in Mexico City next week to take up the ambassadorship, told El Universal daily that "I don't think that citizenship should be included. That can be sought as part of another process, without discrimination."
Garza told the Reforma daily that giving automatic citizenship to those who entered the United States illegally could be construed as discouraging legal migration.
In that interview, Garza said the method for determining who would get legal residency could be based on "the length of their time in the country, their employment record, if they have children in school, if they have a real commitment to the community."
He said those kind of criteria could cover around 12 to 15 percent of undocumented workers, but acknowledged there was no firm proposal on a percentage figure, nor on the length of stay - perhaps a minimum of ten years - that might make workers eligible.
The key difference appears to be that legalized residents would have less ability and fewer rights than citizens to sponsor the immigration of large numbers of relatives. Relative-sponsored "family unification" immigration is currently one of the largest sources of the flow of immigrants to the United States.
Neither the State Department nor the Texas Railroad Commission, where Garza previously worked, were able to locate Garza Saturday to confirm the remarks made in the interviews.
In separate remarks made in Washington, former ambassador Jeffrey Davidow acknowledged Mexico won't get everything it wants on immigration, noting "there won't be 'the whole enchilada'" - a phrase once used by diplomats to describe Mexican proposals for mass legalization and freer movement of workers across the border.
Garza, himself the grandson of Mexican immigrants, told El Universal during an interview in Austin, Texas that doing nothing about immigration is not an option. "If we don't do anything about the legal status (of undocumented workers), we'll be admitting that we have a permanent underclass."
Garza also denied bilateral relations have cooled since Washington turned its attention to the fight against terrorism, or since Mexico opposed the U.S. push for a stronger U.N. Security Council resolution against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"Those who suggest there was tension, I think are exaggerating," Garza told Reforma in a telephone interview done earlier this week. "There was a serious discussion, because it was a serious issue. But the relationship is strong."