Mexican President: Immigration reform now

Courtesy of the Houston Chronicle:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Mexican President Felipe Calderon told a joint session of California’s Legislature on Wednesday that the United States and Mexico are at a historical point in their relationship and called for comprehensive immigration reform.

“Future generations will judge us by the decisions we (make) today,” Calderon said in his first visit to California since he was elected in 2006. “Did we work together to provide organized and humane migration, or did we continue to allow hundreds to die each year?”

Mexico “loses a great deal” with each Mexican who makes the dangerous trek across the border in search of better jobs, Calderon said. Hundreds die during the journey, and the president said immigration costs his nation “our bravest, our youngest and our strongest people.”

“My administration is working hard to create the conditions that will enable each Mexican to find, in our land, well-paid opportunities for employment,” Calderon said, adding that Mexico has taken steps to tighten border security.

Mexico and the United States, he said, “must take a comprehensive approach” to immigration that is “legal, safe and organized.”

Unlike two years ago, when about a half-dozen Republican lawmakers boycotted Mexican President Vicente Fox’s speech to the Legislature in a protest over illegal immigration, Calderon was warmly received.

But after the speech, Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks said it was “inappropriate” for Calderon to “lecture” the Legislature about U.S. policies.

“I don’t think it’s any of Mexico’s business what America does with its own immigration policy, just as it’s none of America’s business what Mexico does with immigration policy,” McClintock said.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, who spent part of his childhood in Mexico, said McClintock did not have “a valid argument.”

“Any president of any nation has a right to their own point of view,” said Nunez, who praised Calderon for his efforts to improve Mexico’s economy and stem illegal immigration.

Outside the Capitol, a small group of Mexicans living in the United States protested Calderon’s visit.

“Felipe Calderon represents a bureaucratic and corrupt system — that’s why Mexicans come here,” said Rudolfo Parel, a farmworker.

Wednesday was the final day of Calderon’s five-day coast-to-coast tour of the United States during which he sought to allay concerns that his nation is indifferent to illegal immigration to this country.

The president acknowledged that illegal immigration is controversial issue “in this great nation” but added, “Mexican-American workers are a large reason for the dynamic economy of California.”

“The harvester in Delano, the dishwasher in Los Angeles, the construction worker in San Francisco (and) the executive in the Silicon Valley … all of them work hard for the prosperity of this state,” he said.

Mexico also accounts for about $20 billion in exports annually from California, and California’s agricultural exports to Mexico have nearly doubled since 2002, making it one of the state’s fastest growing export markets.

In a prepared statement, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who hosted a luncheon for Calderon after his speech, did not touch on the issue of illegal immigration. But he said he looked forward to working with Calderon on building on California’s partnership with Mexico.

The governor, who attended Calderon’s inauguration, said the Mexican president “is on the same page with California on many issues, such as increasing trade, creating more jobs, improving our aging infrastructures and improving the quality of life for our people.”

During Calderon’s visit, he and Schwarzenegger signed an agreement to jointly fight climate change and discussed boosting trade and combating drug trafficking.

In his speech to the Legislature, Calderon said Mexico needs investment from California just as the United States needs Mexican laborers.

“The choice is not between migration and (border) security or between migration and prosperity,” he said. “The choice is between a future of integration and success or a future of distrust and resentment.”