Michael Chertoff, the visiting U.S. homeland security secretary, said here Friday that the United States would approve immigration reforms which include an amnesty for undocumented residents.

The future reforms need to put more focus on security and make U.S. citizens feel more secure, Chertoff said.

Total reform will allow the U.S. to focus on capturing what Chertoff described as "undesirables" -- criminals and other dangerous figures.

Chertoff, speaking to press during a visit to the U.S. chamber of commerce in Mexico City, said the U.S. needs "just and humane" reform.

He arrived in Mexico ahead of a visit to the country by U.S. President George W. Bush, as part of a larger tour of Latin America which will also take him to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia and Guatemala.

Chertoff said it was possible that the U.S. Congress could approve such reforms before Bush leaves office in 2009.

The U.S. has been tightening migration policies and border security, sending 6,000 soldiers to the Mexico-U.S. border. The measures have made life much harder for undocumented migrants.

Chertoff said the U.S. has not adopted additional measures against Al Qaeda in response to threats by the armed Islamic group to attack Mexico, Canada and Venezuela, the major oil suppliers of the United States.

The threats showed that terrorism is not a problem that only affects the United States, he added.

Source: Xinhua