During his weekly radio address, Fox urged U.S. President George W. Bush and
                 the U.S. Congress to approve a plan that would grant guest-worker status and
                 eventually legal residency to 3 million illegal Mexicans.

                 "I hope that with the backing of President Bush and the good will of the Senate
                 and the American Congress, we can soon accomplish this for 3 million or 4
                 million Mexicans that are there," he said.

                 However, the plan would fall short of legalizing all Mexicans living secret lives
                 in the United States -- a goal Fox said he and Bush should work toward.

                 "It isn't fair to consider them illegal when they are employed, when they are
                 working productively, when they are generating so much for the American
                 economy," Fox said. "They shouldn't have to walk around like criminals or stay
                 hidden."

                 Fox's comments came hours after he inaugurated the opening of a clothing
                 factory in Puebla, 65 miles southeast of Mexico City.

                 The factory is the project of Jaime Lucero, who migrated from Mexico to New
                 York 40 years ago. Lucero returned to his home country to open the first
                 factory under a government program encouraging the creation of businesses in
                 areas with high poverty and migration levels.

                 During the ceremony, Juan Hernandez, head of Fox's Office for Mexicans
                 Abroad, announced that officials were in the process of creating a trade office
                 in New York, similar to one in Santa Ana, Calif.

                   Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.