By Jonathan Wright WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Mexico and the United States agreed on Wednesday to set up a homeland security hotline and let U.S. Peace Corps volunteers go to Mexico, but on the crucial question of Mexican migrant labor they said they needed to do more work before announcing any progress. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez said work on a new migration deal was moving behind the scenes and they did not want to raise expectations by suggesting any changes were imminent. They were speaking after an annual meeting of a high-level bilateral commission which includes about half of the Cabinet members from each of the two countries. U.S. President George W. Bush came to office in January 2001 with promises to give high priority to relations with Mexico, one of whose major foreign policy objectives is better terms and conditions for the millions of Mexicans who live and work in the United States without proper papers. But the attacks of Sept. 11 pushed Mexico off his agenda and brought tighter border controls, which have made the crossing more dangerous and more costly for migrant workers. Scores of Mexicans and other Latin Americans die while crossing the desert to avoid U.S. border defenses. They pay smugglers hundreds of dollars to act as guides. U.S. officials had already played down expectations that the talks would bring progress on migration and had signaled that the other two steps were imminent. The new hotline is between U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Mexico's Interior Minister Santiago Creel Miranda, Powell told reporters. A U.S. official told reporters on Monday it would be the first time Mexico has accepted U.S. Peace Corps volunteers, who do development work around the world. They would take high-tech skills to transfer to Mexicans, he added. Derbez said work on migration was like work on a new building, and Mexico and the United States were now at the invisible stage of designing it and digging the foundations. "The one thing that we should not be doing is announcing things before they are done, because that is what creates the kind of expectation and frustration for people," he said. "We'll take a step-by-step approach without promising too much... We don't want to have a high level of expectation that can't be met," added Powell, speaking to reporters alongside Derbez outside the State Department. The officials said their immediate focus was proposed U.S. legislation which would grant guest-worker visas to many future immigrants and give legal status to most of those already living in the country. Proponents say the legislation would improve security because officials would have a record of most of the estimated 8 million to 10 million illegal immigrants.
Anima Naturalis activists lie covered in red paint mimicking blood, in protest against bullfighting in Mexico City as the capital's bullring Plaza Mexico celebrates its 64th anniversary February 6, 2010. REUTERS/Jorge ...
