CRAWFORD, Texas - He was a year and a half late, but Mexican President Vicente Fox finally showed up for dinner at President Bush's ranch, where the two leaders sought to rebuild ties strained by immigration, the Iraq war and capital punishment.

The last time Bush invited Fox here, in August 2002, the Mexican leader pulled the plug 10 days before he was supposed to arrive. The snub was a protest of the Texas execution of a convicted police killer Fox said was a Mexican citizen. Texas officials disputed that.

Bush invited Fox again in January, eager to move relations forward - and to court Hispanic voters, the nation's fastest-growing bloc. On Friday, Fox arrived at the central Texas ranch, gliding in on a Marine Corps helicopter. He and his wife got big smiles and hearty greetings from Bush and the first lady.

"El presidente!" Bush exclaimed, pumping Fox's hand and clasping both cheeks of his wife, Marta Sahagun, to deliver a pair of kisses. "Hola!" Fox replied.

They dined on "Prairie Chapel Ranch bass" that Bush said he had reeled in himself from the stocked pond next to his house - "enough so that the president will be full," Bush declared.

Alongside that were crab cakes, a souffle made of grits, green chilies and cheese, and vanilla ice cream atop apple cake.

Beneath the bonhomie, though, prickly issues remained, among them the old point of contention, capital punishment.

Mexico has asked the World Court to investigate whether dozens of Mexicans on death row in the United States were denied their right to legal help from the Mexican government. The court ruled last year that the executions should be stayed until it issues a final decision, but U.S. courts have gone ahead and scheduled some executions.

As Fox flew to Texas, White House spokesman Scott McClellan reaffirmed Bush's support for a plan he announced in January to give temporary visas to illegal immigrants, most from Mexico, either working in the United States or with the promise of a job.

The Republican-controlled Congress, listening to conservatives displeased by the proposal, has appeared unwilling to approve anything this year.

On another immigration issue, Bush is inclined to support exempting certain frequent Mexico-U.S. travelers from an impending requirement that they be fingerprinted and photographed before crossing the border, a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.

Under the new US-VISIT program, already in use at many airports and seaports, visitors from certain countries must be fingerprinted and photographed before entering the United States. The security system is to be expanded this year to the busiest land entry points as well, and that would affect the many Mexicans who regularly travel back and forth with border-crossing cards.

McClellan said the administration is strongly considering a proposal under which the multi-use visas that those frequent Mexican travelers have could be used in place of the US-VISIT border checks. The documents already require background checks, fingerprinting and photographs. McClellan would not speculate on when a final decision would be made.

Another topic of discussion is Mexico's water debt to the United States. Mexico is trying to reduce the 1.3 million acre-feet of water Mexico owes under the terms of a 1944 water-sharing treaty.

Besides their meetings Saturday, Bush planned to squire Fox around the property's wintertime-lush canyons and stream beds, appear by his side before Mexican and American reporters and play host at lunch. The Foxes were returning home in the afternoon.

Although Bush visited Fox's ranch in Mexico on his first trip abroad as president, and feted him later in 2001 at a rare White House state dinner, relations began to sour after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Bush shelved work on a migration accord, and Fox refused to back the United States at the United Nations as the war with Iraq loomed.