Mexican President Felipe Calderon today lauded President Obama for his “valor” in ordering the Department of Homeland Security to defer deportation actions against qualifying young illegal immigrants.
The two met just before the launch of the G-20 summit in Los Cabos, where they talked about welcoming Mexico to join Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
But Calderon began their press availability afterward by first thanking “on behalf of the Mexican nation, President Barack Obama for his valuable decision by executive order to give an opportunity for young people who were not born in the United States but who arrived in that great nation before they were 16 years of age, or who are studying in university, or who have served in the United States armed forces, for them not to be deported for at least a period of two years, so this is a clear and certain situation for them.”
“We believe that this is very just. It’s a humanitarian action,” Calderon continued. “And it’s an unprecedented action in our opinion. And in this sense, Mr. President, we would like to thank you for the valor and courage that you had in implementing this action. I am sure that many, many families in the United States of America are thankful to you as well.”
Obama didn’t mention the canonization in his remarks, but thanked Calderon and the Mexican people “for their extraordinarily gracious hospitality in this beautiful setting” before making some general statements about the world economy.
“Now is the time, as we’ve discussed, to make sure that all of us join to do what’s necessary to stabilize the world financial system, to avoid protectionism, to ensure that we are working hand-in-hand to both grow the economy and create jobs while taking a responsible approach long term and medium term towards our fiscal structures,” Obama said.
Voters go to the polls July 1 to pick Calderon’s replacement. Mexican presidents are elected for one six-year term.
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