By Dana Milbank and Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, 2001; Page A01

Mexican President Vicente Fox yesterday used his prominence as President Bush's first state visitor to call for an immigration agreement between the United States
and Mexico by year's end, surprising his American hosts, who favor a more cautious approach to the status of at least 3 million undocumented Mexican immigrants.

"The time has come to give migrants and their communities their proper place in the history of our bilateral relations," Fox declared on the South Lawn of the White
House during an arrival ceremony complete with 21-gun salute and military honor guard. "We must, and we can, reach an agreement on migration before the end of
this very year."

In a meeting with Washington Post editors and reporters earlier yesterday morning, Fox said he wants a "first formal agreement that would start giving concrete
solutions to the problem" by the end of 2001. The agreement -- which aides suggest would be a combination of temporary worker privileges and permanent
residency for undocumented Mexican immigrants -- would be implemented gradually over four to six years.

Bush administration officials, who had been seeking to lower expectations on the politically thorny issue of immigration, declined to endorse Fox's year-end deadline.
Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, addressing reporters after a joint meeting of the U.S. and Mexican cabinets, said an agreement would come at "the earliest
possible time," but cautioned: "I cannot forecast an exact time."

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice also would not commit to Fox's deadline. "It has to be done right, not just quickly," she said.

Fox's surprising remarks came on the first day of his visit. Treated to a state dinner last night that featured pepita-crusted bison, he will fly with Bush today to Toledo,
Ohio -- he has relatives in the city, which has a growing Hispanic population -- after addressing a joint session of Congress.

A senior Bush official said the administration learned on Tuesday that Fox would start his Washington trip by calling for an agreement by year's end aimed at
legalizing all Mexicans in this country and stopping further illegal immigration within four to six years. The official said Fox was seeking to add urgency to negotiations
after earlier comments by the Mexican president indicated the agreement, rather than the agreement's implementation, would take years to complete.

Administration officials and their Mexican counterparts have been discussing since early this year an arrangement that would allow those working illegally in the
United States to gain some form of legal status as part of an immigration overhaul. The Bush administration is eager to enact such a plan to please Hispanics and
employers seeking workers, and officials had originally hoped to have an agreement in time for Fox's visit. But because of concerns in Congress and in public about
the scope of such a plan, the two sides settled for an expression of "principles" this week.

Fox, in his meeting with The Post, made clear that he is still determined that the agreement include a broad legalization of undocumented Mexican workers in the
United States, a position that may conflict with Bush's ruling out of any amnesty plan. "What I expect," he said, "is that for every single Mexican that is in the United
States that he would have a legal status, that he would not have to be hiding away, that he would have this regularization or advance to a legal status."

Fox aides hinted that the ultimate solution is likely to be a complex formula that is a hybrid between permanent legalization for some and temporary guest-worker
privileges for others. A senior Fox adviser said the goal is that Mexicans in this country now or in the future "all have papers," though not necessarily permanent
residency.

The forceful remarks by Fox added an element of surprise to a visit designed to highlight the close relations between Bush and Fox and a growing bond between the
United States and Mexico. "This is a recognition that the United States has no more important relationship in the world than the one we have with Mexico," the
president declared in welcoming Fox. "We have a chance to build a century of the Americas."

Fox reviewed an honor guard containing reminders of another time: flags bedecked with battle ribbons, including two commemorating the Mexican War battles of
Contreras and Cerro Gordo in 1847, when U.S. Gen. Winfield Scott defeated Mexico's Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, producing thousands of Mexican casualties
and prisoners.

Yesterday's ceremony, however, was all about friendship. Fox, wearing a gold lapel pin with the Aztec emblem of Mexico -- an eagle atop a cactus -- viewed the
Army Fife and Drum Corps, in colonial red coats, marching to "Yankee Doodle." Bush, in his remarks, cited a Mexican proverb: "He who has a good neighbor has
a good friend." Fox, returning the gesture, cited a Benjamin Franklin aphorism: "A brother may not be a friend, but a friend will always be a brother."

The goodwill continued at a State Department luncheon yesterday, when Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, toasting Fox, noted that the Mexican had visited so
often that the secretary had already taken him to eight different diplomatic dining rooms. "Next time he comes to visit we are going to the cafeteria," Powell joked.

Fox is a hero to many Hispanics in the United States because of his victory last year over a party that had been entrenched in Mexican power for 71 years. Bush
aides see Fox's friendship as crucial to winning Hispanic support for Bush's reelection. Fox, in turn, hopes a liberalization of U.S. immigration and an infusion of
American investment will boost his reforms at home.

In his wide-ranging discussion at The Post, Fox warned that Mexico would retaliate if Congress succeeds in blocking the entrance of Mexican trucks into the country
under the North American Free Trade Agreement. "If Mexican trucks don't come in the United States, United States trucks will not go into Mexico," he said. Fox
said the truck matter "is a commitment that comes from NAFTA and we should comply with commitments."

Fox also voiced disagreement with anti-globalization demonstrators. "Mexico is the country that has more trade agreements, open trade agreements, than anybody
else in the world," he said. "So we have the experience, we live the experience, and on balance I would say that it's been fruitful, it's been good to us." Still, he said
the demonstrators make "good points" that questions of poverty and income distribution should be faced in the world economy.

More broadly, Fox said he seeks a larger place for Mexico on the world stage. "We would like to see a Mexico that is enrolled and committed in world affairs, that
is one of those 10, 12, 15 nations that take decisions with responsibility, that conduct humanity in the world," he said. "We want to be part of that select shared
group and for that we need to build up moral authority, we need to be consistent and brilliant in our ideas and participating in world affairs."

On the subject of immigration, Fox said he would like to see those Mexicans working, paying taxes and obeying the law to have "all their legal rights when they're
living here in the United States." While saying that does not necessarily mean amnesty or U.S. citizenship, Fox indicated that the Bush administration is moving in the
negotiations toward legal rights for the undocumented immigrants. "It's moving toward that direction," he said.

Ashcroft yesterday said Fox's stated objective is consistent with the principles agreed to by U.S. and Mexican officials: "treating people with dignity, recognizing their
contribution, developing a capacity to have an orderly process for migration in which people are a part of a legal structure so that individuals are documented and not
undocumented, and that we not only respect the law, but we respect the dignity, integrity, and safety and security of people."

Fox said the year-end agreement should start "putting in black and white the advances that we have" from this year's talks. He outlined an agreement that would
include trade, investment and economic development and cooperation over drugs and crime. He said negotiators are discussing development programs for
high-emigration areas in Mexico that would boost education and economic opportunities to keep residents from leaving.

The Mexican leader added a note of realism. "Many people expected spectacular results out of this state visit and that was built up by maybe public opinion or
media," he said. "We know that we have to have a pace." He also acknowledged there "has been a change of mood" in Congress because of the slipping economy
and rising unemployment. Still, he added, "We are committed to advance step by step and to really keep our eye on the long-term future."

With White House backing, Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) worked yesterday to clear the way for action during Fox's visit on a bill favored
by immigration rights groups as a first step toward broader reforms. The legislation would revive and extend a recently expired program allowing close relatives of
immigrants with permanent status in this country to apply for green cards without leaving the United States.

Staff writer Helen Dewar contributed to this report.

                                               © 2001 The Washington Post Company