Editorial: Friendship could pay dividends

Friday, Sept. 7, 2001 | 9:35 a.m.

President Bush's courtship of Mexican President Vicente Fox isn't going over well with our neighbors to the north. The Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper's Thursday editorial, "Hey, what about us?" summed up the sentiment of Canadians: "The comfortable old marriage between Canada and the United States has often drawn little U.S. attention, yet under Mr. Bush, it appears to be entirely disregarded." Canadians do have a point about being neglected, but Bush shouldn't feel sorry about wanting to develop strong ties with Mexico, which for decades hasn't had a meaningful relationship with the United States.

President John F. Kennedy advocated a foreign policy strengthening ties with Mexico and Latin America, but in the intervening decades U.S. foreign policy toward Mexico has been one of fits and starts that hasn't been consistent from administration to administration. The fault doesn't rest totally with the United States, though. The United States has been leery of dealing with Mexico because that nation's government had been riddled with corruption, and did little to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. Fox's election, which ended the Institutional Revolutionary Party's 71-year reign, not only holds promise for reforms in that nation, including a genuine effort to stop drugs from coming into the United States, but also improves Mexico's foreign policy outlook.

During his visit to the United States this week, Fox has stressed the need for an immediate agreement on immigration, one of the most important issues confronting U.S.-Mexico relations. Bush has signaled a willingness to reach a deal that would allow an expanded "guest worker" program, which would permit those now working illegally in the United States to have some form of legal status. But even Bush was surprised Wednesday when Fox said that an immigration pact should be completed by the end of this year. This is a nation of immigrants, but the United States shouldn't rush into an agreement that is ill thought out. Let's take our time to make sure that it's done right, so that an immigration policy doesn't favor one nation over others or doesn't create a situation where guest workers are vulnerable to exploitation by U.S. employers.

The political calculus in this equation can't be ignored, either, since the Bush White House believes an immigration agreement would help the president with Hispanic voters if he seeks re-election in 2004. That view isn't universal, though, with many political observers arguing that liberalizing immigration policies could invite a voter backlash in a sluggish economy.

But for now, immigration is a festering issue that needs to be addressed by both nations, and the willingness by both Fox and Bush to do so is the right thing.