Calderon Concludes U.S. Tour, Back in Mexico
02/15/2008
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On February 14th, Mexican president Felipe Calderon concluded his coast-to-coast American Tour, and flew back to Mexico.

For a summary of the visit from Feb. 10th to Feb. 13th, see my article here.

On the night of Feb. 13th, meeting with LA Mexican leaders, Calderon discussed the formation of a ”league of anti-defamation and anti-discrimination, modeled on the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, to protect Mexicans in the U.S.

Quoth Calderon, ”If anyone is mercilessly defaming,ridiculing, and exacerbating hatred against Mexicans, all of us need to neutralize that force.

What they're talking about here is yet another organization to try to shut down debate over immigration in the United States.

Calderon also said that anti-illegal alien raids were discriminatory and that the raids don’t correspond to reality.

(Of course they are discriminatory, against illegal aliens, that's the whole idea!)

On the 14th, Calderon met with the editorial board of LA’s Spanish newspaper La Opinion and had a working meeting with LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, whom he had also seen the night before. (Villaraigosa, by the way, has never renounced the MEChA activism of his college days.)

And before returning to Mexico, Calderon held a press conference in LA.

To summarize Calderon's tour, it lasted from February 10th-14th, he visited 5 cities (New York, Boston, Chicago, Sacramento and Los Angeles) and he took part in 22 separate encounters (meetings, speeches, events).

Calderon told audiences that immigration is an inevitable phenomenon and is mutually beneficial to both the U.S. and Mexico, which have compatible economies. On the other hand, the Mexican president said he didn't encourage emigration from Mexico, that Mexico is losing people, and that he wants a Mexican economy that will provide jobs in Mexico. To Mexicans in the U.S., Calderon promised support, and promoted the "mobile consulates" to reach more Mexicans. Calderon said he wasn't meddling in U.S. politics but that he was glad that some candidates were out of the primaries. And he hobnobbed with local American officials who have been supportive of illegal aliens in their communities.

Regarding these issues, Calderon shares the same goals as his predecessor Vicente Fox, but is much more diplomatic and prudent about how he expresses himself .

The bottom line is that Presidente Calderon is very much engaged on the issues of borders and continental integration, and we can expect to hear more from his administration on the subject. And don't forget, the Mexican president has many allies in the U.S.

This all means that Americans who want us to get control of our immigration policy have our work cut out for us.

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