MEXICO CITY, Nov. 26 -- President Vicente Fox urged Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other visiting U.S. Cabinet members today to restart stalled negotiations on improving U.S.-Mexico immigration rules, but Powell offered no hope of early progress on the divisive issue.

"The tragic events of [Sept. 11, 2001] obliged us to give priority to the topics of security and postpone solutions to other important matters on the bilateral agenda," Fox said, addressing Powell, Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and five other members of President Bush's Cabinet at an annual binational meeting here. "Now it is the moment to take up our negotiations again with newfound energy."

Fox has been criticized here for having little to show for his extensive efforts to improve relations with the United States, particularly on the border issue, which affects the many Mexicans who travel to work in the United States or have family members who do so.

In several public addresses during a 24-hour visit here, however, Powell sought to lower expectations for any immediate agreement on immigration. At the same time, he assured America's southern neighbor that "there is no area in the world that is more important to us than our own neighborhood."

Powell's trip here, like a one-day visit to Canada two weeks ago, was designed largely to mend fences with a neighbor that has felt ignored since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Many Mexicans, like many Canadians, believe that Washington has lost interest in bilateral relations as it focuses on fighting terrorism.

Mexican reaction to Powell's visit was generally upbeat. There was no expectation of much substance from the discussions, but many were pleased that Bush had sent such a senior delegation at a time when the administration is so occupied with Iraq and the war on terror.

Still, Mexicans are increasingly disappointed that warm ties between Bush and Fox have yielded few concrete results, especially on changes to U.S. immigration policy, which is Mexico's number one foreign policy priority. Despite heightened security in the past year, Mexican immigrants continue to flow illegally into the United States and deaths in remote desert border areas have increased sharply.

Mexicans have urged Bush to grant more visas to Mexicans, create new guest worker programs and legalize some of the estimated 3 million to 4 million Mexican immigrants living illegally in the United States. Although Bush and Fox had agreed to seek an immigration accord early last year, momentum on that plan was stalled by the Sept. 11 attacks.

"U.S. migration policies must treat Mexican men, women and children with respect and dignity," Bush said in a videotaped message played for Fox and the other officials this morning. "Our Cabinet officials continue to work together on creative new policies so that immigration is legal, orderly and safe."

Powell, at a news conference with Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda, said the United States is "just as committed today" to immigration reform as before the Sept. 11 attacks. But he noted that those attacks, along with this month's election of a new Congress and creation of a Department of Homeland Security, changed the political realities in Washington.

"We have to be realistic about the changes that have occurred in the last 14 months," he said.

Source: Washington Post