The Az law bashing President of Mexico got standing ovations from Democrats.
Fox News reports he took the occasion to “Slam Arizona Law” :
Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Thursday strongly denounced Arizona’s new law clamping down on illegal immigrants and urged members of Congress to pass “comprehensive immigration reform.”
“I’m convinced comprehensive immigration reform is crucial to securing our border,” Calderon said in the first address to Congress by a foreign national leader this year. “But I strongly disagree with the recently adopted law in Arizona.”
“It’s a law that not only ignores reality, but also introduces racial profiling as a basis for law enforcement,” he said.
Fox News reported earlier this morning:
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has been ripping into Arizona’s immigration law as he tours Washington — while appearing to disregard the way his own country cracks down on immigrants along Mexico’s southern border.
Mexico repeatedly has been cited by human rights groups for abusing or turning a blind eye to the abuse of migrants from Central America. Until recently, Mexican law made illegal immigration a criminal offense — anyone arrested for the violation could be fined, imprisoned for up to two years and deported. Mexican lawmakers changed that in 2008 to make illegal immigration a civil violation like it is in the United States, but their law still reads an awful lot like Arizona’s.
Arizona’s policy, which Calderon derided on Wednesday as “discriminatory,” requires law enforcement to try to determine the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant — provided they are already in contact with that person. They can’t randomly stop people and demand papers and the law prohibits racial profiling.
The Mexican law also states that law enforcement officials are “required to demand that foreigners prove their legal presence in the country before attending to any issues.”
Calderon, who plans to address members of Congress Thursday morning, was facing criticism on Capitol Hill for his remarks Wednesday ahead of the State Dinner at the White House.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, called Calderon’s comments inappropriate.
“It’s a little bit like inviting a guest over for dinner and then having them criticize the food,” he told Fox News. Smith wrote Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday to complain that Mexican officials have “crossed the line and are interfering in the internal affairs of the United States.”
Who’s idea was it for Calderon to speak before a joint session of Congress? The AP reported the news after a private meeting with Obama.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon is taking his case for a fair and orderly overhaul of U.S. immigration policies to the people who can do something about it: members of Congress.
One day after private meetings with President Barack Obama and White House celebrations in his honor, Calderon pivots Thursday to Capitol Hill. He is addressing a joint meeting of Congress, where he is expected to push for immigration changes and emphasize the economic priorities linking the U.S. and Mexico.
Calderon’s state visit comes at a time of renewed furor over the flawed immigration system from Mexico into the United States. From border security troubles to questions about how to deal with the millions of illegal migrants living in the U.S., the immigration debate remains politically vexing, frustrating and volatile.
Obama is lobbying lawmakers to get moving on legislation that would seek to deal with the security, employment and citizenship issues all at once. But he concedes he doesn’t yet have the Republican support he would need to get such a complex deal done. Whether any progress will happen this year is unclear.
Stoking the matter is a new law approved by Arizona lawmakers and set to take effect July 29 unless derailed by legal challenges. It requires police, in the context of enforcing other laws, to question people about their immigration status if there’s reason to suspect they are in the country illegally.
Calderon calls that discriminatory, and Obama agrees the Arizona law could well be applied that way. He has ordered a Justice Department review. (They can start by actually reading the darn thing).
Mark Levin railed against the President of Mexico’s rank hypocrisy on his show, last night.
MORE:
See BigFurHat for his solution to the illegal immigration problem.
UPDATE:
Rebublicans react to Calderon’s speech:
Weasel Zippers is on a roll…
Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn: Who is Calderon to Lecture Americans on Our Laws?..
GOP Congressman Says it’s “Not Right” for Mexican Prez to Come to America and Criticize Arizona – Video
CA Rep. Tom McClintock’s Response To Mexican President Felipe Caldron
See also:
Rush Limbaugh Blasts Mexican President for Hypocrisy in Attacks on Arizona Law – Audio
Hot Air Video: Democrats give Mexican president standing ovation for dumping on Arizona
Newsbusters:
Jack Cafferty Slams Obama, Mexico’s President For Arizona Law ‘Whining’
Linked by William Teach, Pirate’s Cove, and STCLU. thanks, guy!
Nice Deb 