Thread: White House puts immigration onus on GOP as Calderon visits

The Hill
White House puts immigration onus on GOP as Calderon visits
By Sam Youngman - 05/19/10 01:04 PM ET

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he can get Democratic support for the Senate immigration proposal, but he said Republicans will have to sign on to pass a bill.

Obama, joined in the White House Rose Garden by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, endorsed the current proposal put forth by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), saying "it can and should move forward."

The president said he is "confident" he can get the majority of Democrats in the House and Senate to support a proposal like that, "but I don't have 60 votes in the Senate."

"I've got to have some support from Republicans," Obama said, calling that prospect "politically challenging."

The president again referred to attempts to pass immigration reform legislation in 2006, spearheaded by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Obama said that he wants to see the Senate "re-create that atmosphere."

"I don't expect every Republican vote, but I need some help in order to get it done," Obama said.

The immigration issue has overshadowed Calderon's visit to the U.S., during which he'll be hosted at the Obama administration's second State Dinner.

Calderon wasted little time in addressing the issue, blasting the controversial new Arizona immigration law at the welcoming ceremony Wednesday morning.

At Wednesday afternoon's appearance before the press, Obama joined Calderon in voicing his opposition to the Arizona law, saying it "has the potential of being applied in a discriminatory fashion."

The president said he is expecting the results of a Justice Department inquiry into the new law soon, and then he will make some decisions about how to address it.

"The judgments that are going to be made in applying this law are troublesome," Obama said.

Still, the president said, the "misdirected" effort by Arizona lawmakers is the result of frustrations felt by the states as the federal government has failed to address the issue.

"I'm sympathetic to those frustrations," Obama said. "I share those frustrations."

The president noted twice that illegal immigration is down at the U.S.-Mexican border, saying, "I know that's not the perception out there, but that's the fact."

"But we haven't done enough," Obama said.

Obama said he supports legislation that would hold businesses and illegal immigrants accountable, requiring the latter to, among other things, learn English and get in the back of the line to immigrate legally to the U.S.

"That kind of package, in which everybody has responsibilities, I think can pass," Obama said.

Calderon said he acknowledged Obama's commitment to passing immigration reform, but he repeatedly bashed the Arizona law.

"We want to make this clear: Both countries want a safe border," Calderon said.

Calderon said Mexicans "oppose firmly" the Arizona law, which he said contains "unfair principles that are partial and discriminatory."

"In Mexico, we are and will continue being respectful of the internal policies of the United States and its legitimate right to establish, in accordance to its Constitution, whatever laws it approves," Calderon said. "But we will retain our firm rejection to criminalize migration so that people that work and provide things to this nation will be treated as criminals."

With broad brushes, Obama also discussed trade policies the U.S. shares with Mexico, saying that with more than 80 percent of the two countries' trade occurring by land, a "21st century border" must be "an engine, and not a brake, on our economic growth."

Without directly mentioning the trucking dispute between the two countries, Calderon did say he and Obama discussed the "relevance of solving our differences and trade problems in the fastest possible way."

"I can highlight here that the areas where we agree are broader than our differences," Calderon said. "There is a broad convergence of interests. And this is not only given to the fact that we share common goals, but there is a will of both of us to turn the fact of being neighbors into partnerships that will act as a leveler for shared development."

This story was updated at 2 p.m.

Source:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrat ... nus-on-gop

Thank you GOP. Your candidates will have my vote.

Is anything ever Obama's fault? My granny always told me that when you pointed your finger of blame at someone else, the rest of the fingers pointed back at you.

IN other words, most Democrats are traitors who prefer Mexicans over Americans, and should be kicked out of office if not the country.

"We want to make this clear: Both countries want a safe border," Calderon said.

Riiiiight. You want a porous border heading north for mexicans only. If the primary elections didn't convince Obamy, we'll have a repeat in November. ENFORCE THE LAWS WE ALREADY HAVE!!!

Any Republican who votes for amnesty will be done politically.