The government described as "very positive" the statement made by U.S. President George W. Bush in calling on the U.S. Congress to debate immigration "in a civil way" and approve reforms that include a guest-worker program.

Bush´s statement "seemed very positive to us and is in line with the current trend in the United States toward opening an interesting discussion on possible immigration reform," Fox spokesman Rubén Aguilar said on Friday.

At a news conference, he said immigration will be the "primary topic of discussion" during the meeting Fox and Bush will hold next Thursday in Cancún, just before their trilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"When we discuss this debate, it must be done in a civil way. It must be done in a way that brings dignity to the process. It must be done in a way that doesn´t pit people against each other," Bush said after meeting Thursday with more than a dozen business, civic and religious leaders.

The Fox administration "is very pleased with what is happening" in the United States and hopes "that at last this (immigration) problem is going to be resolved the right way," Aguilar said.

Mexico hopes the U.S. Congress will approve a measure that guarantees migration across the border that is "legal, orderly and respectful of human rights" and which leads to "regularizing" the status of undocumented Mexicans in the United States.

It is estimated that some 10 million Mexicans live in the United States, half of them illegally.

Aguilar and Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez have said the immigration debate in Washington "is going well" and have expressed the hope that lawmakers will approve a reform bill "in the way Mexico has proposed."

Derbez is in Washington leading the delegation meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other U.S. officials to analyze the progress of the "Partnership for Prosperity," as Bush and Fox have christened the two countries´ bilateral relations.

During their Cancún meeting, Fox and Bush will discuss such issues as immigration, border security, economic development and the environment.