Propelled by a new Arizona law, the debate over immigration reform was set to take center stage when President Barack Obama welcomed Mexico’s Felipe Calderon to the White House yesterday.
While immigration has long been a source of tension, the controversial Arizona law threatens to further strain US-Mexican relations. Calderon has condemned the law. Obama has called it “misguided” and asked the US Department of Justice to review it.
Facing pressure from lawmakers at home, Calderon has vowed to push for immigration reform during his trip to Washington. His government has issued a travel warning for Arizona, warning Mexicans they face an adverse political environment there.
Obama has promised to start work on an immigration overhaul, but he’s also warned that Congress may not have the appetite to take on the controversial issue this year. A senior administration official said on Tuesday that the president would reiterate his commitment to fixing the US immigration system during his meetings with Calderon.
The official also said the administration plans to address security along the US-Mexico border and build on work done this year to open new border crossings and invest in the modernization of existing ones.
The two leaders were due to hold a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden at midday, followed by a formal dinner for 200 guests in the evening — Obama’s second state dinner.
Obama and Calderon have met nearly a dozen times since Obama took office, including a meeting in April last year in Mexico City and a North American leaders’ summit in Guadalajara in August. First lady Michelle Obama has also formed a friendship with Mexico’s first lady, Margarita Zavala, who visited the White House in February.
Michelle Obama visited Zavala in Mexico City last month on her first solo trip abroad as first lady.
Obama and Calderon are also expected to discuss drug violence that has affected both sides of the border. More than 22,700 people have been killed since Calderon deployed tens of thousands of troops and federal police across the country in December 2006 in an offensive against drug traffickers.
The US has been a strong supporter of the offensive, providing training and equipment under the US$1.3 billion Merida Initiative. The Obama administration has earned praise from Mexico for repeatedly acknowledging that US drug consumption is a large part of the problem.
A series of other issues are also expected to be on the agenda. These include climate change. Calderon has worked to make Mexico a global leader on the issue. His country will host the next round of international climate negotiations in December in Cancun.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese