Obama, Calderon Slam Arizona Immigration Law
AP
Updated 2:50 p.m. Eastern
President Obama said today that he has directed the Department of Justice to take a "very close look" at Arizona's controversial immigration law and that he expects a report back "soon," after which the government will make a determination whether to legally challenge the law.
Mr. Obama, speaking following a bilateral meeting at the White House with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, said in the Rose Garden that the Justice Department is looking at the language of the law and its implications for civil rights as well as "whether it comports both with our core values and existing legal standards."
He added that Justice is looking at whether the law violates "the fact that the federal government is ultimately the one charged with immigration policy."
"I think the Arizona law has the potential of being applied in a discriminatory fashion," Mr. Obama said after a reporter asked if he agreed with Calderon's characterization of the law as "discriminatory." In his prepared remarks, the American president had called the law a "misdirected expression of frustration over our broken immigration system."
"Today, I want every American to know my administration has devoted unprecedented resources in personnel and technology to securing our border," he said. "Illegal immigration is down, not up, and we will continue to do what's necessary to secure our shared border."
At a welcome ceremony earlier in the day, Calderon spoke of migrant workers, saying "many of them, despite their significant contribution to the economy and to the society of the United States, still live in the shadows and, occasionally, as in Arizona, they even face discrimination."
Speaking of the Arizona law, Mr. Obama said "in the United States of America, no law-abiding person -- be they an American citizen, a legal immigrant, or a visitor or tourist from Mexico -- should ever be subject to suspicion simply because of what they look like."
He argued that while the law was amended to say it should not be carried out in a discriminatory way, a fair reading "indicates that it gives the possibility of individuals who are deemed suspicious of being illegal immigrants...being harassed or arrested."
He added that "the judgments that are going to be made in applying this law are troublesome."
CBS
The passage of the law, he said, reflects "some of the frustrations that the American people have had in not fixing a broken immigration system and, frankly, the failures of the federal government to get this done. I'm sympathetic to those frustrations."
The president said he believes most Americans are open to a comprehensive immigration reform plan that includes creating an orderly border, making sure businesses are following the rules and not "actively recruiting undocumented workers" in order to skirt laws and protections, and making sure there is accountability for those living in the United States illegally.
He said he believes illegal immigrants should be provided a path to citizenship, though they should "get to the back of the line" and be forced to pay a fine and back taxes to before they achieve it.
The president said he also believes they should learn English.
Noting that there are not sixty Democratic votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster, the president said he needs Republican support to pass immigration reform.
"I need some help to get it done," said the president.
"I think all of us recognize that some of the pressures with respect to immigration just arise out of economics," he added. "People in Mexico are looking for opportunity, and they feel that they can make more money here in the United States. What we also have to recognize -- and I talked about this with President Calderon -- is every nation also has the right to secure its borders and make orderly decisions about who comes in and who comes out."
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Some people even came with the idea that the illegal immigrants who bought houses they couldn't afford were one of the factors that triggered the financial crisis: http://www.financialcrisisforum.org/forum/Investing/Do-you-think-that-immigration-has-anything-to-do-with-the-fall-of-the-stock-market-438737.htm
But from the pragmatic point of view, what can be done with these people?
Unfortunately, illegal immigration into the United States is highly profitable proposition for both employers and the U.S. government, and it also benefits Mexico, which is the largest source country of undocumented immigrants into the US.
The US and Mexican governments actively stimulated illegal immigrants to enter USA and to work illegally for profit-hungry U.S. employers. Poverty-stricken immigrants , who are often desperate to house and feed their families, respond to the financial enticements...and then are blamed by U.S. citizenry for illegally being in the US.
But is Mexico just as tough -- or even tougher -- on illegal immigrants?
Stand by for my exclusive interview with the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon.
BLITZER: So if people want to come from Guatemala or Honduras or El Salvador or Nicaragua, they want to just come into Mexico, they can just walk in?
CALDERON: No. They need to fulfill a form. They need to establish their right name. We analyze if they have not a criminal precedent. And they coming into Mexico. Actually...
BLITZER: Do Mexican police go around asking for papers of people they suspect are illegal immigrants?
CALDERON: Of course. Of course, in the border, we are asking the people, who are you?
And if they explain...
BLITZER: At the border, I understand, when they come in.
CALDERON: Yes.
BLITZER: But once they're in...
CALDERON: But not -- but not in -- if -- once they are inside the -- inside the country, what the Mexican police do is, of course, enforce the law. But by any means, immigration is a crime anymore in Mexico.
BLITZER: Immigration is not a crime, you're saying?
CALDERON: It's not a crime.
BLITZER: So in other words, if somebody sneaks in from Nicaragua or some other country in Central America, through the southern border of Mexico, they wind up in Mexico, they can go get a job...
CALDERON: No, no.
BLITZER: They can work.
CALDERON: If -- if somebody do that without permission, we send back -- we send back them.
BLITZER: You find them and you send them back?
CALDERON: Yes. However, especially with the people of Guatemala, we are providing a new system in which any single citizen from Guatemala could be able to visit any single border (INAUDIBLE) in the south. And even with all the requirements, he can or she can visit any parts of Mexico.
BLITZER: I ask the questions because there's an argument that people in Arizona and New Mexico and -- and Texas, they say they're only trying to do in their states what Mexico itself does in the southern part of Mexico.
CALDERON: I know. And that is a very powerful argument. But that is one of the reasons why we are trying to change our policy.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1005/19/sitroom.01.html
#
Mexico welcomes only foreigners who will be useful to Mexican society:
# Foreigners are admitted into Mexico "according to their possibilities of contributing to national progress." (Article 32)
# Immigration officials must "ensure" that "immigrants will be useful elements for the country and that they have the necessary funds for their sustenance" and for their dependents. (Article 34)
# Foreigners may be barred from the country if their presence upsets "the equilibrium of the national demographics," when foreigners are deemed detrimental to "economic or national interests," when they do not behave like good citizens in their own country, when they have broken Mexican laws, and when "they are not found to be physically or mentally healthy." (Article 37)
# The Secretary of Governance may "suspend or prohibit the admission of foreigners when he determines it to be in the national interest." (Article 38)
Mexican authorities must keep track of every single person in the country:
# Federal, local and municipal police must cooperate with federal immigration authorities upon request, i.e., to assist in the arrests of illegal immigrants. (Article 73)
# A National Population Registry keeps track of "every single individual who comprises the population of the country," and verifies each individual's identity. (Articles 85 and 86)
# A national Catalog of Foreigners tracks foreign tourists and immigrants (Article 87), and assigns each individual with a unique tracking number (Article 91).
Foreigners with fake papers, or who enter the country under false pretenses, may be imprisoned:
# Foreigners with fake immigration papers may be fined or imprisoned. (Article 116)
# Foreigners who sign government documents "with a signature that is false or different from that which he normally uses" are subject to fine and imprisonment. (Article 116)
Foreigners who fail to obey the rules will be fined, deported, and/or imprisoned as felons:
# Foreigners who fail to obey a deportation order are to be punished. (Article 117)
# Foreigners who are deported from Mexico and attempt to re-enter the country without authorization can be imprisoned for up to 10 years. (Article 118)
# Foreigners who violate the terms of their visa may be sentenced to up to six years in prison (Articles 119, 120 and 121). Foreigners who misrepresent the terms of their visa while in Mexico -- such as working with out a permit -- can also be imprisoned.
Under Mexican law, illegal immigration is a felony. The General Law on Population says,
# "A penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of three hundred to five thousand pesos will be imposed on the foreigner who enters the country illegally." (Article 123)
# Foreigners with legal immigration problems may be deported from Mexico instead of being imprisoned. (Article 125)
# Foreigners who "attempt against national sovereignty or security" will be deported. (Article 126)
Mexicans who help illegal aliens enter the country are themselves considered criminals under the law:
# A Mexican who marries a foreigner with the sole objective of helping the foreigner live in the country is subject to up to five years in prison. (Article 127)
# Shipping and airline companies that bring undocumented foreigners into Mexico will be fined. (Article 132)
That doesn't even consider the tremendous drug traffic from Mexico to the US, by some of the worst criminals in the world, who seemingly have more power than the Mexican government, and the US has literally tractor-trailer loads of drugs entering the country, daily.
Personally, I would find the whole state dinner thing, highly distasteful and treasonous, as in COLLUSION!
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
Spoken by a TRUE US President. Teddy would have never criticized our country to any foreign dignitary. I believe Obama has done this several times. Wait until 2012!
http://bibdaily.com/pdfs/Raids_document.pdf
Illegal Immigration is a Crime
Under Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, "Improper Entry by Alien," any citizen of any country other than the United States who:
Enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers; or
Eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers; or
Attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact;
has committed a federal crime.
Violations are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment for up to six months. Repeat offenses can bring up to two years in prison. Additional civil fines may be imposed at the discretion of immigration judges, but civil fines do not negate the criminal sanctions or nature of the offense.
Care to tell us all why these laws are not being enforced?
The feds don't want to make policial waves--due to elections?
Maybe big business uses the illegals for their $$$$ gain?
Maybe it costs too much $$$$$?
What's your insights on this crisis?