Bush: Raise limit for Mexico

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President Bush yesterday called on Congress to increase the number of Mexican immigrants allowed into the United States, but conceded his plan to relax immigration has little chance of passage in an election year.

"I support raising the quotas on certain population groups, like the Mexican nationals, on who can become a citizen," Mr. Bush told a convention of minority journalists. "In order to solve the logjam for citizenship, Congress has got to raise the quotas."

The president's remarks came as his campaign began airing a Spanish-language TV ad in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Florida, where Hispanic voters are considered a crucial component of his re-election strategy.

"No matter where we came from, or why we came here, we found opportunity, a better education for our children, the medical care our families deserve," says the ad's narrator. "America, our country. George W. Bush, our president."

Having long sought to grant legal status to illegal aliens from Mexico, the president said yesterday that the only way to enact his plan is to allocate more legal-immigration slots to Mexicans.

"The issue there is whether or not people automatically get to step in the front of the line when it comes to citizenship," he said. "I don't think they should. I think those who have been waiting in line to be a citizen ought to be allowed to keep that priority in line."

Mr. Bush did not explain how non-Mexican applicants for U.S. residency would keep their place in line if the quota for Mexican immigrants is enlarged. Nor did he quantify his proposed enlargement for Mexicans, who already far outnumber immigrants from every other nation.

White House spokeswoman Erin Healy said the president supports "a reasonable increase in the annual limit" of Mexican immigrants. She added, "We would work with Congress to determine what that amount was."

The president acknowledged the chances of enlarging the quota are slim.

"Will it get done?" he said. "Probably not this year. This is an election year.