[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[March 20, 2002]
[Pages 451-453]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Interview With Television Azteca
March 20, 2002
Mexico-U.S. Relations
Q. Mr. President, thank you very much for being on Television
Azteca. It's a pleasure and an honor, sir, to have you. Let me first ask
you, in Monterrey there are many people demonstrating against the
meeting, not only of Mexico and the United States but in general of this
world meeting. And they say that this will be an occasion to have Mexico
subordinated to the United States. What do you tell these people?
The President. Mexico es a grand amigo de los Estados Unidos, and
we're equal partners. It's very important for people in our hemisphere
to know that we've got a unique relationship with Mexico and a very
positive relationship. We've got a lot of trade that goes on on a daily
basis. We've got a lot of contact with Mexico. And my attitude is, if
Mexico succeeds, that is good for the United States. A strong Mexico, an
equal partner is very good for the people of our country.
Everywhere I go, there's protesters, so I don't worry about
protesters. What I worry about is to make sure that we have good
relations with Mexico. It's an important part of my foreign policy. This
will be my second trip to Mexico since I've been the President, in a
year's time. That should send a clear signal of the importance of the
relationship.
Q. And this is not an occasion to subordinate anybody or anything?
The President. No, of course not. There's no subordination. This is
an excuse for people who want to disrupt a positive relationship. And
it's important for us to have a positive relationship with Mexico, and
relations with Mexico have never been better.
Vicente Fox is my friend. I can have very
good dialog with him. He's a strong, strong proponent of what's good for
Mexico. He speaks his mind, as he should. And there are some areas where
we agree and some areas where we don't agree, but we always agreed to
have good relationships.
Immigration
Q. Mr. President, one of the issues that you're going to be
discussing with President Fox is the one related to immigration.
The President. Yes.
Q. And I talked to a lot of people--community leaders, immigration
attorneys--and they tell me that 245(i) only helps a very small
percentage of people, and that, in reality, something has to be decided
about this guestworker program initiative, the illegalization of all
those Mexicans who are still here and working every day, and they
haven't been able to get their residency--those kinds of things. But
they say that as long as you push and you put your political capital on
this, something can be done. Otherwise, it won't. My question is, are
you willing to put that political capital on----
The President. Well, I've always been one who understands that we
need to make sure that a willing employer and a willing employee can
come together in a legal way. That's been my position for a long period
of time. 245(i) is just the beginning of a lot of discussions; 245(i) is
a compassionate approach to helping reform immigration. And so the issue
is broader than 245(i), as far as I'm concerned, and it's going to take
a lot of work, however.
And it's very important for our Mexican friends to understand that
as a result of the attacks on America, the American people are focused
on terror and focused on making sure people don't come in the country to
hurt us. I, of course, reminded people that most people from Mexico that
come into the country come to help, not to hurt. So we've got a lot of
work to do.
But I haven't changed my mind; I think it's important. The first
step is to see if
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we can get 245(i) out of the United States Senate. And so all those
lawyers you've talked to or advocates need to be up working the United
States Senate right now to see if they can perform.
Q. Many people feel that this will only happen if you push and you
put your political capital there.
The President. That's what I'm doing. I've said, first things first.
I'm the President who stood up and said, ``Get me 245(i), let's get that
done.'' And the Senate can't move. And so I called upon the Senate
again, ``Let's see you perform, and let's get all these advocates in
Washington, DC, to whom you've spoken up on the Senate floor. Get them
up there getting something done.''
See, I'm one of these let's-see-if-we-can-get-things-done guys.
There's too much talk in Washington and not enough action. And so I've
not only talked about immigration reform that makes sense, I'm pushing
to get 245(i). Once we get 245(i), we can deal with the next issue. And
there's a lot of issues we need to discuss, and I'll discuss them with
my friend Vicente Fox.
Antidrug Efforts
Q. And my last question: Benjamin Arellano-Felix, the head of this
cartel, suspect in Mexico, was apprehended there. Are you going to ask
for extradition--for an extradition of this guy to the United States?
The President. Si, por cierto. Por cierto. He's under indictment here in the United States, and I
look forward to working with the Fox Government
on extradition. We've had a great--great cooperation on the issue of
extradition. As you know, the Government has made some--honored our
requests a couple of times, and for that I'm grateful. And yes, we'd
like to see him extradited.
And I'm so appreciative of the Mexican authorities arresting this--
arresting this man. It's a good
signal. And it's a good signal for many Americans to hear it and realize
that the Fox Government is getting tough on
these narcotraffickers.
Now, let me talk about drugs very quickly. I want the Mexican people
to understand that we'll work together--and we are--to stop the flow of
drugs. But here in America, we must do a better job of not using las
drogas. We've got to do a better job of reducing demand. We have an
obligation; we've got an obligation to work closely with our Mexican
friends; we've got an obligation at home to convince our young not to
use drugs.
And so I want the American people to hear me loud and clear: Drugs
will destroy your families, and drugs will destroy life. And we've got
to do a better job of promoting that. And so when demand for drugs goes
down, which I hope it does--and I think it can with good, focused
effort--it will help our Mexican friends deal with a very tough issue.
Thank you, sir.
Note: The interview was taped at 10:40 a.m. in the Map Room at the White
House. In his remarks, the President referred to President Vicente Fox
of Mexico; and Benjamin Alberto Arellano-Felix, head of the Arellano-
Felix Brothers organization drug cartel. He also referred to section
245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which expired April 30,
2001. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this
interview.
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