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The Mexican government is planning a multipronged effort in the United States on behalf of the millions of Mexicans working without proper documentation. Targets would include agricultural groups and Latino organizations. Mexico wants a system to regulate the flow of workers back and forth and to provide legal protections for those in the United States.

But some U.S. officials say that if the Mexican government inserts itself into what they call a highly sensitive domestic issue, it could complicate what already looms as a difficult task for President Bush.

One senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Mexico should "work with us and remember that this is a domestic issue. It's not a Mexico-specific bill. ... If it's seen as a unilateral demand from the Mexican side, I think there will be plenty of people, particularly on the Hill, who will not receive that particularly well."

The official added that the U.S. government has been talking to Mexico about "what would be sensible from our point of view. If they have comments on those, we're willing to listen to them ... but this is a domestic issue ... and we certainly don't want to give the impression that we're negotiating this with Mexico."

A Mexican official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the sensitivities involved and said, "Mexico will take very careful steps" in its lobbying efforts. "We recognize that this is a very delicate matter."

Mexican officials say they plan to spend "hundreds of thousands" of dollars to promote the issue through its 47 Mexican consulates in the United States, focusing on regions that government officials consider crucial to success.

Mexico plans to hire lobbyists and to work closely with leading U.S. think tanks and universities to promote its national interests, the Mexican official said.

The strategy is, "take the message to local and state governments, lobby from the bottom up," the official said. "This is not about interfering in U.S. domestic policy, but about being part of a debate on immigration, which we consider one of the most important items in the U.S.-Mexico bilateral agenda."

The official said Mexico would launch the lobbying effort early next year, perhaps coinciding with the planned visit of Fox to Washington in late February or March.

The senior U.S. official said the meeting is not yet on Bush's calendar and cautioned that "there's no time confirmed for this meeting. ... I'm not saying there won't be a meeting. I'm just saying they're a little ahead of the curve on this one. ... I think they're a little bit too anxious."

Immigration policy change is a key issue in Texas, the second most popular destination for illegal immigrants after California. The Urban Institute, a Washington research organization, estimates that Texas is home to 13 percent of the nation's illegal immigrant population of 10 million to 12 million.

Lobbying by foreign governments on U.S. soil is not new. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the revelation that 15 of the 19 men who hijacked the planes flown into the World Trade Center and other targets were Saudi citizens, Saudi Arabia spent $17.6 million on public relations, advertising and lobbying in the United States to try to dispel the notion that the Saudi government was failing in its responsibilities to fight terrorism, Justice Department records show.

The migration issue ignites passion, especially among anti-immigration groups.

"Mexico's blatant foreign interference in U.S. domestic affairs," is the issue, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington. The group favors reduced immigration.

"The Mexican consulates have gone from promoting trade and travel to Mexico to actively involving themselves in U.S. domestic affairs ... and the Bush administration has been irresponsible for not telling Mexico in a friendly but clear way that this is not acceptable," Krikorian said.

Under the plan advanced by the administration, illegal immigrants already in the United States and foreign workers seeking to come to the United States could apply for renewable three-year work visas. The administration also would seek an unspecified increase in the number of "green cards" granting permanent residence.

Another senior Bush administration official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while Mexico's lobbying has "merit - after all they have a big stake in this, too - it may also hurt them if it's not done properly and carefully. But what I think the real issue here is that Mexico needs to answer the most important question: present us a vision, a strategy on how it plans to stem the future flow of illegal immigration. We want the Mexicans to help us determine who's coming in, where they're coming from, and how it plans to control those waves in the future."

Resolving those questions, the official said, would bolster chances for passage of reform legislation in what the official described as a "more Republican, but also a far more conservative and rebellious Congress."

The official reiterated that Bush has made immigration a priority of his second term and said that changing immigration laws will "require leadership and much political capital. This will be a tar issue. It will be messy."

(c) 2004, The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.