U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales meets with members of the National Association of Hispanic Publications during a conference Friday at the Las Vegas Hilton. In his speech, he outlined the Bush administration's goals for immigration reform. Photo by John Locher.

By MOLLY BALL

In his first visit to Las Vegas as U.S. attorney general, Alberto Gonzales on Friday called student protests here and in other cities "counterproductive" and said the best way for Hispanic children to achieve their goals was to stay in school.

Gonzales defended President Bush's immigration priorities, saying an amnesty for illegal immigrants would not be effective and the nation's borders must be secured.

Speaking at a convention of publishers of Hispanic publications, Gonzales, a Texas-born Mexican-American who is America's first Hispanic attorney general, stressed the importance of education.

His message to the marchers was: "Get an education. Freedom in this country is only available to those who can speak English well, those who can write English well."

Most of the protesters' parents came to this country seeking a better life for their children, and the children should uphold that dream by not skipping classes, he said.

"There is time after school, there is time on the weekends if they want somehow to convey a message to government leaders," Gonzales said.

He told the publishers the Bush administration is looking at three ways to improve life for Hispanics: cracking down on the gang violence that pervades many Hispanic neighborhoods, protecting minorities' civil rights and addressing immigration.

Immigration was clearly the foremost issue on everyone's mind as schoolchildren massed on the streets of many Western U.S. cities to call for amnesty for illegal immigrants. The marches during the past week, prompted by debate in Congress on the issue, have unleashed wellsprings of both pro-immigrant advocacy and anti-immigrant anger.

Gonzales said Bush strongly opposes an amnesty for illegal immigrants of the sort granted by President Reagan 20 years ago.

The amnesty wasn't effective, he said: "It didn't stop, it encouraged further illegal immigration." An amnesty, he said, would be "unwise and unfair to the many people who have followed the rules."

Bush has instead backed a guest worker program that would grant visas to immigrants to stay and work in the United States only temporarily, without a way to work toward becoming citizens.

Although Gonzales emphasized the need to secure America's borders against terrorists and criminals, he said he did not support some legislators' call to build a fence along the Mexico border.

"I think that's contrary to our traditions," he said, noting that "99.9 percent" of illegal immigrants "come across to seek a better life for their families," not to make trouble.

Gonzales portrayed himself as a product of the American dream, recalling that his mother once had to come in the back entrance of some places because of racism, but "she recently went into the front door of the White House to meet the president of the United States."

He also related a gruesome incident in Texas involving two illegal immigrants who were gang-raped and left for dead by their traffickers, saying stopping human smuggling is a priority for the Bush administration.

"Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River," Gonzales said, to applause. "But in a post-9/11 world, we must know who is crossing our borders."