US President George W Bush tried to reassure Mexicans on Tuesday that he has not given up on overhauling US immigration policy but they are increasingly sceptical he can deliver.
Bush told Mexican President Felipe Calderon in their first summit meeting that he would try to convince Congress to pass his plans to soften US immigration laws and allow a guest worker program.
"My pledge to you and your government, but more importantly the people of Mexico, is that I will work as hard as I possibly can to pass comprehensive immigration reform," he said at a luxury hotel set in farm grounds on the outskirts of the south-eastern Mexican city of Merida.
Mexico's importance to US business and trade is unrivaled in Latin America. Yet a sense of neglect has set in as Bush, who promised to make Mexico a priority when he took office in 2001, has become distracted by the Iraq war, which has made him even more unpopular in Latin America than he is at home.
Mexicans account for more than half of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States and Mexico is upset at US plans to build a security fence along parts of the border to curb illegal immigration. "Migration cannot be stopped and certainly not by decree," said Calderon, a conservative who took office last December.
Mexico poses a complex challenge for Bush on the final stop of a Latin American tour aimed at shoring up his standing and countering the anti-US influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Bush has sent a softer message, saying he is just as interested in alleviating poverty in the region as in promoting free trade. Bush insists he wants immigration reform to couple tighter border controls with a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants.
It was his fifth trip to Mexico since taking office but he has not visited Mexico City in any of the visits. Security would be a headache in the chaotic, traffic-choked capital.