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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | May 2006 
Obrador to Push US on Immigration Reform
 Kieran Murray - Reuters
| | Mexican leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks as he campaigns in the Mexican state of Puebla. Lopez Obrador vowed on Tuesday to put immigration reform at the top of his agenda with Washington after a day of huge street protests by immigrants across the United States. (Imelda Medina/Reuters) |
The leftist candidate in Mexico's presidential election vowed on Tuesday to put immigration reform at the top of his agenda with Washington after a day of huge street protests by immigrants across the United States.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the demonstrations which drew hundreds of thousands of mainly Hispanic immigrants onto the streets of American cities on Monday showed the failures of past policies by U.S. and Mexican governments.
Only a deal legalizing the status of those workers already in the United States and economic policies that create more jobs in Mexico will stop hundreds of thousands of people from crossing the border illegally every year, Lopez Obrador said.
He promised it would be his No. 1 issue in dealing with Washington if he is elected on July 2.
"Migration flows can not be stopped. Even if they build walls, even if there are raids, even if there are more severe laws, it can't be resolved like that," Lopez Obrador said on his morning television show.
"We have to convince the U.S. government that there has to be cooperation for development and that we have to guarantee economic growth and employment in our country."
With mid-term elections in November, immigration has become an extremely sensitive issue in the United States. Congress is locked in debate over rival proposals which range from granting immigrants an amnesty to declaring them criminals, and Hispanic groups are on the move.
SHOWDOWN
The showdown on reform is being closely watched in Mexico and could become a major issue in the election campaign.
With two months to go, Lopez Obrador is in a tight race with conservative candidate Felipe Calderon of the ruling National Action Party.
Lopez Obrador became Mexico's most popular politician when he served as mayor of Mexico City and held a big lead in opinion polls for three years, but he has slumped in the past month after a series of mistakes that included refusing to join a televised debate with the other candidates.
A new poll in the Milenio newspaper on Tuesday showed Calderon taking the lead with 36 percent support, three points ahead of his left-wing rival. Another poll last week also showed Calderon ahead.
Lopez Obrador is promising to end two decades of U.S.-backed free market reforms in Mexico and create jobs by spending heavily on infrastructure projects.
Critics say he could wreck Mexico's hard-won financial stability and upset its close ties with Washington but Lopez Obrador insists he would keep more Mexicans at home by boosting economic growth.
"Mexico is the main exporter of workers in the world. That is an embarrassment," Lopez Obrador said, adding the country needs U.S. support in developing its economy.
If elected, he also said Mexico's 45 consulates in the United States would be more active in defending Mexicans "against mistreatment, discrimination and the violation of their human rights."
Mexican President Vicente Fox has also made U.S. immigration reform his main foreign policy goal. Analysts say any deal in the U.S. Congress that helps immigrants would be a major victory for Fox and boost Calderon's chances. |
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