[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 12 (Monday, March 25, 2002)]
[Pages 463-465]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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

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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 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.

Narcotics

    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.

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    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. The President 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.