Meeting focuses on border policies

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, November 9, 2006

WASHINGTON – Divided over a border fence, President Bush and Mexico’s president-elect pledged on Thursday to work together on stopping illegal immigration.

Felipe Calderon, who takes office on Dec. 1, has called the U.S. plan to build a 700-mile fence along the border “deplorable” and compared it to the construction of the Berlin Wall.

After a meeting in the Oval Office, the leaders struck a tone of cooperation.

“I expressed to President Bush my concern regarding the issue of migration,” Calderon said. “President Bush was very open to all the arguments that I presented to him. We both stressed the need to have a comprehensive vision with which we can move forward.”

Bush signed the law authorizing the fence on Oct. 26. He wants more – temporary worker permits for foreigners willing to take low-wage jobs and a path for illegal immigrants working in the United States for some time to become citizens. But Congress has not agreed.

Bush said Thursday that Mexico is a priority for his administration. He said he stands by his push for a comprehensive immigration overhaul.

“I assured him that we will work very closely together,” Bush said, with Calderon at his side.