MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Immigration, priority of US/Mexico agenda for Calderon

Mexico's president-elect says he will try to do what his predecessor couldn't in six years: reach an immigration accord that will let millions more Mexicans work in the United States legally.

Felipe Calderon said he is committed to winning sweeping immigration reform in the U.S. Congress before President Bush leaves office in January 2009. Calderon, who spoke with Bush by phone this week, believes the White House is ready for action. "We will work intensely over the next two years to arrive at a concrete agreement" he said.

Pro-immigrant marches began anew this week in the United States as Congress reconvened, though action on immigration is unlikely given elections in November.

Outgoing President Vicente Fox spent six years trying to obtain legal status for the eight million undocumented Mexicans in the United States, and his inability to secure an accord was among the biggest failures of his term.

Mexican presidents are limited to one six-year term, and Calderon will replace Fox on December first. Both are members of the pro-business National Action Party.

The September 11 terror attacks diverted the Bush administration's focus from immigration reform to security issues. Calderon said he believes he can capitalize on renewed U.S. attention to the immigration issue to persuade Congress to approve reforms.

But he also admits Mexico has to create more jobs to slow the flow of Mexicans heading north, noting that "every year, more than 1.2 million Mexican youths reach working age. Many, facing a lack of alternatives, go looking for opportunities in the United States."

"We can't ignore it, we can't write laws making it disappear," Calderon said. "We have to find ways to improve things. That is not only in the interest of Mexico, but also a U.S. interest."