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 News from Around the Americas | February 2008 
Immigration Activists to Meet with Calderon in L.A.
 Stephen Wall - The Sun
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 |  | He needs to raise wages a lot. If people earned more money in Mexico, they wouldn't have to risk their lives to cross the border to come here to work.
- Luz Maria Ayala |  | | | |
Luz Maria Ayala has a message for Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Work harder to stop Mexicans from coming to the United States illegally.
"He needs to focus on helping the workers in the rural areas who are really struggling," said Ayala, who runs a community organization that aids Latino immigrants in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. "He needs to raise wages a lot. If people earned more money in Mexico, they wouldn't have to risk their lives to cross the border to come here to work."
Ayala and her husband, Antonio Ayala, are part of a select group of immigrant leaders that will meet with Calderon during his visit to Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The president's five-day trip, which began Sunday, also includes stops in New York, Boston, Chicago and Sacramento.
Calderon, who belongs to the center-right National Action Party, became president in 2006 in a disputed election that some Mexicans believe was fraught with irregularities.
Calderon has worked to enact policies that would create jobs and lift wages to stop the flood of illegal immigrants into the United States.
Some experts say he has been successful in stabilizing the illegal flow of workers through investments in education.
"The government is working very hard to recognize Mexico's responsibility (regarding illegal immigration)," said Roderic Ai Camp, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College who has written several books and articles about Mexico. Camp said Calderon's administration has increased government investment in elementary education by providing assistance to poor families who want to keep their children in school.
"The long-term benefit of that is to increase economic prosperity, thereby keeping individuals in Mexico and employed in Mexico," Camp said.
Camp said Calderon also worked with the Mexican Congress to achieve legislation that produced major fiscal and legal reforms.
Carlos Giralt Cabrales, Mexico's consul serving San Bernardino and Riverside counties, said Calderon wants to enhance trade and commerce between the United States and Mexico.
"Everybody knows that President Calderon is a very energetic person," said Giralt Cabrales, who will attend the meeting in Los Angeles. "He's a sincere leader who is taking Mexico in the right direction."
Calderon also has made clear the importance of Mexico's consulates in providing services for Mexicans in other countries, Giralt Cabrales said.
"For different reasons, men and women from Mexico have decided to travel to other countries like the United States to look for better jobs and opportunities," Giralt Cabrales said. "Although we wish they could remain in Mexico, it is our legal and moral obligation to offer them assistance whenever they need it."
Other experts say Calderon has had limited success in fighting drug traffickers who have waged an intense battle with Mexican law enforcement, which is intent on wiping out organized crime.
"He certainly has been aggressive in combating the cartels, but that's like trying to sweep back the ocean with a broom," said George Grayson, a government professor at the College of William and Mary in Virginia who specializes in Mexico.
Grayson said Calderon also is coming to the United States to apply political pressure on U.S. lawmakers.
"The reason he's in the United States is to exert influence directly and indirectly on U.S. policymakers in hopes that after the presidential election, there will be an expansion of the guest-worker program, there will be more visas issued to Mexican citizens and there will be a path to legalization for the illegal aliens already here," Grayson said. |
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