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SANTIAGO, Chile - On the final day of a 21-nation summit that ended with a joint commitment to work against terrorism and for free trade, President Bush on Sunday assured Mexican President Vicente Fox that he would press to ease U.S. immigration laws, despite resistance in Congress.
Bush's renewed commitment to overhaul U.S. immigration laws was welcome news to Fox, who would like to see an open border between the two countries. Bush's plan would give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants by letting them become temporary workers.
But it was likely to signal a battle with Congress, where the proposal has languished for nearly four years because of opposition from both parties.
"We need to make sure that where there's a willing worker and a willing employer, that that job ought to be filled legally in cases where Americans will not fill that job," Bush told reporters after meeting with Fox.
Bush's meeting with Fox was one of many he held with leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The forum ended with the countries agreeing that restarting stalled global trade negotiations should be a top priority.
Bush used his visit to the weekend summit in Santiago to reach out to world leaders on a variety of subjects, including efforts to halt nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran. Although Bush is widely unpopular in many of the countries represented at the summit, he and the other leaders seemed eager to put aside past differences over Iraq and other issues now that he has been re-elected.
Bush also met with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos on Sunday and will stop in Colombia today before traveling to his Texas ranch for Thanksgiving.
The Santiago summit, which brought together leaders from both sides of the Pacific Ocean, was held under tight security that led to some frayed tempers.
On Saturday night, Bush personally intervened when Chilean authorities refused to let his lead Secret Service agent accompany him to a summit dinner. Bush waded into the shoving match and pulled his agent through the security perimeter.
Lagos scrapped plans for a gala dinner with Bush at La Moneda, the presidential palace, on Sunday after the Secret Service insisted that more than 200 guests would have to pass through metal detectors. Instead, Lagos scheduled a much smaller "working dinner" with the U.S. entourage.
Lagos was clearly irritated that he had to withdraw his dinner invitations to top business leaders and other influential Chileans.
Behind the scenes, foreign leaders urged Bush to reduce the growing federal deficit and prop up the weakening dollar. The world economy is driven in large measure by the U.S. economy, and many Asian and European nations fear large deficits, sparked in part by the expensive war in Iraq, will drag down global economic growth.
The U.S. dollar fell to near record lows against major currencies last week. A weak dollar hurts foreign economies by making foreign-made goods more expensive in the United States.
For the most part, though, the leaders kept their differences out of public view as they stressed working together on trade, security and economic development.
To combat terrorism, they pledged to crack down on the spread of shoulder-fired missiles that can be used to shoot down civilian aircraft, cooperate on port security and share information about lost and stolen passports that could be used by terrorists.
In keeping with APEC tradition, they donned local garb - in this case, colorful ponchos - for a group photograph.
Bush, who usually chafes at the formalities of international summits, seemed to enjoy himself in South America.
"The gringo is here," he joked to Lagos in Spanish when he arrived at one of the sessions.
While the summit went well for Bush, it might have gone even better for Chinese President Hu Jintao, whose visit was another reminder of China's potential economic power. Hu, who took control of the world's most populous nation last year, came to Santiago after stopping in Argentina and Brazil.
"He was very, very effective. Very effective," Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin told Knight Ridder. "The United States in a meeting such as this is clearly one of the dominant actors. But, boy, China was a major factor in every debate."