FOREIGN SECRETARY DERBEZ TRAVELS TO CHICAGO

Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez traveled to Chicago, Illinois on December 7th and 8th.

During his visit, the Foreign Secretary met with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and Vice Governor Bradley Tusk, as well as state cabinet members.

Foreign Secretary Derbez thanked Governor Blagojevich for his efforts to promote better living conditions for the Mexican community in Illinois through such measures as accepting the consular identification card and creating an Immigrants’ Office.
The Foreign Secretary also met with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, with whom he discussed issues of interest for Mexico and for the Mexican community in Chicago, and participated in a series of meetings with members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, businessmen, scholars, community leaders and representatives of national associations.

During the meetings, the current debate in the U.S. on immigration was discussed. Foreign Secretary Derbez expressed himself in favor of a reform that incorporates mechanisms that guarantee legal, orderly and safe migratory flows between the two countries and that provides solutions to the legal situation of the undocumented Mexicans living in the United States.
During his meetings, the Foreign Secretary heard proposals from some of the most well-known businessmen in the United States. Among them, a top-ranking executive from the medical and hospital industry stressed the urgent need that the U.S. has for 1.2 million nurses. The presidents of national restaurant, construction and hotel associations; executives from large meat-packing industries, gardening, retail sales and other sectors also mentioned the importance of immigrant labor.

Thomas Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an organization that brings together three million businesses, emphasized that over the coming decade the U.S. economy will need more than 10 million workers and that this need will not be met by demographic growth.

During his visit to Chicago, Foreign Secretary Derbez was accompanied by the Undersecretary for North America, Gerónimo Gutiérrez; the Mexican ambassador to the U.S., Carlos de Icaza; and Mexico’s Consul General in Chicago, Carlos Manuel Sada.


http://portal.sre.gob.mx/usa/index.php? ... le&sid=172