Immigration and Drug Wars

With immigration reform raging in both the U.S. and in Mexico, President Barack Obama and Mexico's Felipe Calderon will reaffirm their commitment to immigration reform for their countries. While there has always been tension about immigration reform between the U.S. and Mexico, with the passing of the Arizona law, there is more burden on the relationship than ever before. Obama has promised to start work on reform, but has warned everyone that lawmakers may not want to deal with the issue this year because of everything else they are taking on. Calderon has pushed for reform since his visit to Washington. He is also receiving some pressure from Mexican lawmakers about breaking ties with Arizona, and his government has issued a travel warning to the Arizona, warning that migrants face an adverse political environment.

Barack Obama has called the Arizona law "misguided" and has asked the Justice Department to review the law again. A Senior Administration official has stated Obama will discuss border security with Calderon, and expects the two sides to build on work already done this year to open new border crossings and to invest in the modernization of existing crossings. Calderon will be the second world leader to be welcomed to the Obama White House with a state dinner. The two leaders will have a meeting in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon to discuss this issue, then dinner that night with 200 guests. Obama and Calderon have met at least a dozen times since Obama took office, and Michelle Obama has formed a friendship with the Mexican first lady, Margarita Zavala. The two leaders are also going to discuss the drug violence that is affecting both sides of the border. More than 22,700 people have died since Calderon deployed tens of thousands of troops and federal police across the country in December of 2006, due to drug traffickers. Washington has been a strong supporter of the offensive, providing training and equipment under the $1.3 billion Merida Initiative. The administration has said that after the Wednesday meeting, both leaders will walk away with positive announcements in which they will work together to enhance economic competitiveness.

In other news, as of Monday the 17th, the largest of five lawsuits was filed against the state of Arizona due to the recently passed immigration bill. According to the Associated Press, the ACLU, NAACP, and a handfull of other civil rights groups have collectively filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court as a challange to the bill's Constitutionality. The four previous lawsuits had been filed by either individuals or small groups, but none so large as the suit filed Monday. There is a potential for all five lawsuits to be consolodated into one large claim, but the overall goal of the suits, to either abolish or stall the bill going into affect at the end of July, is now more likely.

Proponents of the bill state that it merely reflects the current federal immigration bill (which in their opinion isn't being enforced), while opponents state that the Arizona bill oversteps the boundries set by the federal bill and that it will lead to inevitable descrimination. Gov. Jan Brewer states that she believes the bill will hold up in court as Constitutional, although to-date no formal hearing has been scheduled.

Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, there is still a bleak outlook for any federal immigration reform this year as Congress and the President are currently neck deep in issues like climate change, Wall Street reform, and the job crisis (Reuters). Democratic Senators are still looking for any kind of Republican support - even if only for negotiations, but none has yet to be found.