U.S., Mexico Hold Talks on Migration Reform

The top foreign policy and justice officials of the United States and Mexico vowed Wednesday to make their shared border a more friendly place by allowing additional Mexican workers to cross legally and curbing the abuse of illegal immigrants.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft met at the State Department with Mexican Foreign Secretary Jorge Castaneda and Interior Secretary Santiago Creel to begin drafting a migration policy for the new administrations in Washington and Mexico City.

U.S. officials said both governments hope to produce ideas that President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox can discuss when they meet April 20-22 at a Western Hemisphere summit in Quebec City.

“The current administrations in Washington and in Mexico . . . both see the border as a shared responsibility and a shared opportunity,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said after the meeting. Lower-ranking officials are scheduled to continue the negotiations.

Bush and Fox have expressed support for increased legal immigration of Mexican workers, a step aimed at reducing the flow of illegal immigrants while helping to alleviate a shortage of agricultural workers in the United States.

Both sides also have expressed concern about the plight of illegal immigrants who frequently endure sweatshop conditions and sometimes are the victims of violence. But the United States wants Mexico to focus on curbing illegal crossings, while Mexico is pushing for improved conditions for those who do reach the U.S. without proper documentation.

Officials in both delegations said there were no breakthroughs Wednesday.

“We found an extraordinarily receptive attitude on the part of Secretary Powell and Atty. Gen. Ashcroft, and we look forward to working closely with them,” Castaneda said.

Boucher said the two countries hope to produce “a humane set of conditions for people who need to cross” the border. “We will work with Mexico in many ways to make that happen.”

But both sides agreed that it will be difficult to work out detailed rules that will satisfy each government.

Bush and Fox pledged to improve cross-border relations when they met Feb. 16 at the Mexican president’s ranch in San Cristobal. Bush, who emphasized the symbolism of his first foreign visit being to Mexico, has set a goal of improved relations with most nations of the Western Hemisphere.

For Fox, relations with the United States--and the treatment of Mexican citizens living north of the border--will be an indicator of his ability to govern after ending 71 years of single-party rule in Mexico.