FORD
05-24-2006, 08:11 PM
Mexican President Visits Yakima
May 24, 2006
By Associated Press
YAKIMA - Mexican President Vicente Fox touched down in the heart of Washington farm country Wednesday, greeting Gov. Chris Gregoire with a kiss on the cheek before heading off to visit a Latino-owned fruit orchard in the nation's leading apple-producing state.
Fox's visit to the agriculture-rich Yakima Valley marked what is believed to be the first visit by a Mexican president to Washington state. It is part of a three-state swing through the Western United States amid an extended national debate over immigration reform.
The two-day visit to Yakima and Seattle will include trade talks and meetings with Hispanic and business groups. It comes as the U.S. Senate considers legislation to strengthen border security, authorize new guest-worker programs and give an eventual chance at citizenship to most of the estimated 12 million people already living illegally in the United States.
Gregoire specifically pressed Fox to stop in Eastern Washington, where thousands of Hispanic workers - many of them illegal immigrants - labor in the agriculture industry, planting and harvesting crops and packing and processing food.
Agriculture remains the state's top industry. As a result, Hispanics comprise up to 90 percent of the population in some farm communities.
In Yakima, Fox planned to tour a 700-acre cherry, apple and pear orchard and an apple-packing warehouse owned by Rene and Carmen Garcia. Their operation, G&G Orchards, is believed to be the only Hispanic-owned apple warehouse in Washington state.
Rene Garcia said he wanted to press Fox for duty-free apple exports in Mexico, where U.S. shippers pay a 46 percent tariff. Mexico is the nation's top export market for apples.
Given the timing of the visit, though, immigration will be the topic of interest at each stop. In Yakima, farmers are worried about a shortage of workers this year amid a border crackdown.
Police set up an area for protesters to gather in a field likely to be on the route Fox will follow from the Yakima airport to the orchard. During his visit to Salt Lake City, several dozen people opposed to offering illegal immigrants amnesty demonstrated outside the Utah Capitol.
While in Yakima, Fox also is scheduled to meet with Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski before flying to Seattle for a town hall meeting with Mexican-Americans and a dinner hosted by Gregoire.
He was greeted at the Yakima airport Wednesday by dignitaries and a pair of local children, Victoria Morales, 9, and her brother Marques, 4, who presented Fox and his wife with flowers.
On Thursday, Fox will attend a breakfast with Washington business leaders in Seattle, visit a community health center, and lunch with other business groups before moving on to California for an address before California lawmakers and meetings with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Earlier Wednesday in a speech to the Utah Legislature, Fox said Mexico does not support undocumented migration and that his country must expand economic growth so it is not necessary for people to seek work and benefits outside his country.
Democracy cannot flourish unless there is economic freedom to support it, Fox said, speaking in English.
"Until recently, Mexico was trapped in a vicious cycle of economic crisis, recurring crisis. But we have set out to change that," Fox said. "Today, Mexico has the soundest, safest, most stable economy of our lifetime."
He said 25 million impoverished Mexicans now have access to health, educational and nutritional support and his administration has spent more on improving the lives of its residents than any other Mexican administration.
Fox said the most pressing issue for U.S.-Mexico relations is immigration.
"One cannot underestimate the importance of this moment and how complex this issue is for our two nations," Fox said. "Since the beginning of my administration, the government of Mexico has promoted the establishment of a new system that regulates the movement of people across our border in a manner which is legal, safe and orderly."
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to limit debate on election-year immigration legislation, clearing the way for final passage later this week of a bill that calls for tougher border security as well as an eventual chance at citizenship for millions of men and women in this country illegally.
Link (http://www.komotv.com/news/printstory.asp?id=43592)
May 24, 2006
By Associated Press
YAKIMA - Mexican President Vicente Fox touched down in the heart of Washington farm country Wednesday, greeting Gov. Chris Gregoire with a kiss on the cheek before heading off to visit a Latino-owned fruit orchard in the nation's leading apple-producing state.
Fox's visit to the agriculture-rich Yakima Valley marked what is believed to be the first visit by a Mexican president to Washington state. It is part of a three-state swing through the Western United States amid an extended national debate over immigration reform.
The two-day visit to Yakima and Seattle will include trade talks and meetings with Hispanic and business groups. It comes as the U.S. Senate considers legislation to strengthen border security, authorize new guest-worker programs and give an eventual chance at citizenship to most of the estimated 12 million people already living illegally in the United States.
Gregoire specifically pressed Fox to stop in Eastern Washington, where thousands of Hispanic workers - many of them illegal immigrants - labor in the agriculture industry, planting and harvesting crops and packing and processing food.
Agriculture remains the state's top industry. As a result, Hispanics comprise up to 90 percent of the population in some farm communities.
In Yakima, Fox planned to tour a 700-acre cherry, apple and pear orchard and an apple-packing warehouse owned by Rene and Carmen Garcia. Their operation, G&G Orchards, is believed to be the only Hispanic-owned apple warehouse in Washington state.
Rene Garcia said he wanted to press Fox for duty-free apple exports in Mexico, where U.S. shippers pay a 46 percent tariff. Mexico is the nation's top export market for apples.
Given the timing of the visit, though, immigration will be the topic of interest at each stop. In Yakima, farmers are worried about a shortage of workers this year amid a border crackdown.
Police set up an area for protesters to gather in a field likely to be on the route Fox will follow from the Yakima airport to the orchard. During his visit to Salt Lake City, several dozen people opposed to offering illegal immigrants amnesty demonstrated outside the Utah Capitol.
While in Yakima, Fox also is scheduled to meet with Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski before flying to Seattle for a town hall meeting with Mexican-Americans and a dinner hosted by Gregoire.
He was greeted at the Yakima airport Wednesday by dignitaries and a pair of local children, Victoria Morales, 9, and her brother Marques, 4, who presented Fox and his wife with flowers.
On Thursday, Fox will attend a breakfast with Washington business leaders in Seattle, visit a community health center, and lunch with other business groups before moving on to California for an address before California lawmakers and meetings with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Earlier Wednesday in a speech to the Utah Legislature, Fox said Mexico does not support undocumented migration and that his country must expand economic growth so it is not necessary for people to seek work and benefits outside his country.
Democracy cannot flourish unless there is economic freedom to support it, Fox said, speaking in English.
"Until recently, Mexico was trapped in a vicious cycle of economic crisis, recurring crisis. But we have set out to change that," Fox said. "Today, Mexico has the soundest, safest, most stable economy of our lifetime."
He said 25 million impoverished Mexicans now have access to health, educational and nutritional support and his administration has spent more on improving the lives of its residents than any other Mexican administration.
Fox said the most pressing issue for U.S.-Mexico relations is immigration.
"One cannot underestimate the importance of this moment and how complex this issue is for our two nations," Fox said. "Since the beginning of my administration, the government of Mexico has promoted the establishment of a new system that regulates the movement of people across our border in a manner which is legal, safe and orderly."
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to limit debate on election-year immigration legislation, clearing the way for final passage later this week of a bill that calls for tougher border security as well as an eventual chance at citizenship for millions of men and women in this country illegally.
Link (http://www.komotv.com/news/printstory.asp?id=43592)