Bush, Fox to discuss immigration reform

Posted on Thu, Oct. 16, 2003

Bush, Fox to discuss immigration reform
By KEVIN G. HALL
Knight Ridder Newspapers

MEXICO CITY - The venue is an Asian trade meeting, but when Mexican President Vicente Fox and President Bush meet on Monday in Bangkok, Thailand, the issue will be immigration reform.

On the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Fox once again will press Bush for steps to make life easier for the millions of Mexicans who live in the United States illegally. But with the U.S. presidential election campaign in full swing, Bush is likely to be a tough sell in the wake of a California recall election that suggests that even many Hispanic voters took a dim view of deposed Gov. Gray Davis' efforts on behalf of undocumented residents.

An exit poll showed 52 percent of Hispanic voters opposed Davis' September decision to allow undocumented Mexicans to get a California driver's license. Winning candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned against the measure.

"You'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not see that immigration issues decided that election," said John Keeley, a spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank in favor of tighter immigration controls. He added, "The Hispanic vote is not monolithic. I think the California experience has changed the landscape." (snip/...)

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