As previously mentioned, Tom Ridge met today with Mexico's interior secretary. The AP offers this roundup of what was promised or just given away:

Mexico will continue to press for an immigration agreement establishing a right for Mexicans to work temporarily in the United States, the country's interior secretary, Santiago Creel, said Monday at his last meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

Creel also used the occasion to denounce [Arizona's Prop. 200]...

...Ridge, for his part, said an immigration agreement was a "high priority" for President Bush in his second term, but added that a temporary worker program would be an uphill battle in Congress without provisions for stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

He emphasized that the United States would reject any amnesty proposal for Mexicans who are currently living in the United States illegally or any plan that gives priority to temporary workers when they apply for permanent residency.

He avoided criticizing the Arizona ballot measure, saying that states have a right to deny state but not federal aid...

...Ridge said other states were unlikely to follow Arizona's lead if the United States introduces a program for temporary workers.

"There will probably be far less inclination by any states to vote a similar way again ... because the people that will be here will be here legally and they will certainly be in a much better position to support themselves without relying on any public funding," Ridge said...

These guys are simply out to space. I have no idea what he's talking about.

We've already covered the first part of Ridge's statement on this blog, but I have some bad news: "President Bush To Fix Illegal Immigration Problem By Removing Immigration Laws" was a satire. Yes, that's right, it was, in effect, a joke. In other words, they were not serious.

As for the second part, that's something that some enterprising reporter should really quiz him about. How exactly would waving a magic wand and changing someone's status affect their costs and benefits? And, if he's suggesting that our erstwhile illegal aliens would be given higher wages, wouldn't their cheap-labor-loving employers simply cause cheaper labor to be imported?