Calderon Asks for End of Hate Campaign against Mexicans

(New York, NA 11 May) In a speech Tuesday in the United States, President Calderón said that the progress of the United States could not be explained without the contribution of all the work of immigrants. He added that the tax contributions of immigrants are demonstrably larger than any drain on public budgets caused by them. He praised President Obama’s support of immigration reform. Then he made a telling point: “Mexicans have contributed to the progress of this country. There is a hatred campaign against our people. This must be overcome by an information campaign, which makes it clear how much Mexicans in the United States contribute to this economy.” After meeting with New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, President Calderón spoke before Hispanic activists who provide assistance to people trying to comply with the current immigration law, considered by many to be unnecessarily complex and restrictive.

In related news, congressional Democrats re-introduced the “Dream Act,” a bill that would provide a path to lawful residence for persons who entered the US without documents when they were children and who have lived in the country ever since. Many of these are denied public education and college because of their status, a status that they had no part in establishing. Proponents regard the current law as wasteful of human capital, ignorant in economic terms, hateful and racist. Those who oppose the law rely on xenophobic sentiments of the rightist extremes in the Republican party and the fears of labor unions, which traditionally try to prevent new workers from entering the economy. The State of Maryland, for example has just implemented a law that would deny a college degree to anyone not a legal resident of the United States.