Garza has been tight with Bush for a long time. He's in his early 40s and is being fast-tracked in the GOP Presidential farm system. You watch.
Envoy seeks progress in immigration reformBy ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
AUSTIN -- Though Sept. 11 shifted U.S. foreign policy toward the war on terrorism, the next U.S. ambassador to Mexico said Wednesday he is optimistic immigration reform will return to the forefront."I view it from the perspective of a Mexican and an American and I happen to think it's important to us that we move on immigration because I really do think it speaks to our character and our identity," said Tony Garza Jr., 43, who serves on the Texas Railroad Commission.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination to become the next ambassador to Mexico.
His confirmation comes at both a critical and extraordinary time in U.S.-Mexico relations, which reached a pinnacle on Sept. 6, 2001, when Mexican President Vicente Fox addressed Congress and both countries appeared headed toward an accord on immigration reform.
Though Garza acknowledged that much of that momentum disappeared after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, he believes the issue is too important economically to both countries to not eventually return to the table.
He said both countries share the same objectives, but have yet to define how those objectives can be met.
Garza said he supports easing the policy on residency, but not without first defining the criteria to support the status change such as length of time in the country, criminal history and whether residents have children in school.
Also, he said the United States has a de facto guest worker program and must find ways to make it a market-driven work force.
Garza supports the extension of the Legal Immigration & Family Equity Act that will enable Mexican nationals who qualify for permanent residency to adjust their status in the United States rather than return to Mexico. The extension allows Mexicans who have immigration status violations to pay a $1,000 penalty and remain in the country rather than returning to Mexico while applying for permanent residency.
"It's important to America as well as to Mexico," Garza said of the immigration issues. "They're very compatible agendas but it's got to be driven by the United States in what's in our best interest.
"We have never been about a country creating a permanent underclass."
Garza anticipates the issue of legalization to be debated between the two countries. While immigration reform will lead to changes that will benefit both countries, he said, the path toward legalization will not be direct.
The support will be welcomed in Mexico, which is expected to pressure Garza and make immigration policy between the two countries a major issue.
"They won't have to squeeze hard because I already think it's important," Garza said.
Both countries benefit economically from the relationship. The United States gets low-cost labor and Mexico gets a market for more than 85 percent of its exports. Also, two-thirds of all foreign investment in Mexico is from the United States. And Garza said estimates of the amount of money sent back to Mexico by family working in the United States range from $10 billion to $14 billion.
But the current political climate in Mexico City, especially in regard to the United States, will be much different when Garza arrives than it was before the terrorist attacks.
Harley Shaiken, a University of California-Berkeley professor specializing in global economics, said the Bush administration and its Republican supporters have placed the Hispanic vote at the top of their agenda while Mexico has slipped near the bottom.
"Fox came in and gambled heavily that by him moving in a U.S.-centered direction that immigration reform would occur in the U.S., that is he could say to Mexico, `I shifted Mexico foreign policy, but look what we gained,' " Shaiken said.
He said Fox has suffered considerable political damage as a result of that policy.
"Fox gambled and the U.S. didn't deliver," he said.
Nestor Rodriguez, a sociologist at the University of Houston and co-director of the Center for Immigration Research, agreed.
"The Mexicans right now want desperately to do something dealing with the undocumented population living here now, and Mexicans will pressure (Garza) on that," Rodriguez said. "There's always the circumstances that affect relationships and the one we're in right now certainly doesn't favor Mexico."
Garza downplayed the concerns that Fox's hopes for reform remain mired in stubborn opposition from the Mexican government.
"Has it always been exactly what he's wanted? No, but that's the nature of a democracy," Garza said. "I think he's had some pretty significant successes and shown leadership in a lot of issues."
One thing that can offer Fox optimism and that worked in favor of Garza's nomination, is Garza's close ties to President Bush. Garza, a Brownsville native and former Cameron County judge, was appointed Texas secretary of state by Bush soon after Bush was elected governor in 1994. He remained as a senior adviser to the governor.
"Will (Fox) have high expectations? Not really. I think Fox's expectations have been tempered by the reality of the last two years when much seemed possible and little has been delivered," Shaiken said.
Garza said his experiences of growing up on the border and serving the region in public office have shown him both the limitless possibilities and futility born from distance.
He remembers a variation on an old saying about Mexico's misfortune of being so far from God and so close to Texas. He said the border has been at a disadvantage because of its distance from DF (Mexico City) and DC (Washington).
"In the wake of (the North American Free Trade Agreement) what you saw I think was both countries starting to look at the border and starting to recognize there had been a fair amount of neglect, and so what was needed was to start focusing on the border," he said.
As for his nomination, Garza said he plans to be forthright and hardworking and hope that those virtues will help him overcome any obstacles and win him support in Mexico.
Shaiken remained skeptical.
"He could very well have a positive reception, he could be welcomed to Mexico, but I think he doesn't arrive with a clean slate," he said.
Garza has been tight with Bush for a long time. He's in his early 40s and is being fast-tracked in the GOP Presidential farm system. You watch.