Bush OKs Mexico border fence

President Bush signed a bill on Thursday authorising 1,100 km of new fencing along the US-Mexico border, hoping to give Republican candidates a pre-election platform for asserting they8217;re tough on illegal immigration.

8220;Unfortunately the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise,8221; Bush said at a signing ceremony. 8220;We have a responsibility to enforce our laws. We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility seriously.8221;

The measure offers no money for the project covering one-third of the 33,600 km border. Its cost is not known, although a homeland security spending measure the president signed earlier this month makes a 1.2 billion down payment.

Outgoing Mexican President Vicente Fox, who has spent much of his six years in office lobbying for a chance at citizenship for the millions of Mexicans working illegally in the US, calls the fence 8220;shameful.8221;

The fulcrum of Bush8217;s immigration policy, a guest worker programme, remains stalled in Congress.