**Mexican President Felipe Calderon has used the start of a state visit to the US to renew his attack on Arizona’s controversial new immigration law.**Mr Calderon said people were “still living here in the shadows with such laws as the Arizona law that is placing our people to face discrimination”.
President Barack Obama emphasised a message of solidarity, saying the US and Mexico would “stand together”.
The battle against drugs will also be high on the agenda of the state visit.
Racial profiling
The Arizona law requires police officers to question people they stop for a “legitimate reason” about their immigration status if the officers have “reasonable suspicion” the person is in the US illegally. It takes effect on 29 July.
Opponents of the law say it will encourage racial profiling of Hispanics, who make up three-quarters of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the US.
Mr Calderon has already criticised the measure as backward and issued a travel warning for the US state. He is under pressure from some Mexican lawmakers to cut off commercial ties with Arizona.
President Obama has also been critical of the law, which is due to come into effect in July, and is considering challenging it in court. But it was not expected that he would raise it in discussions with Mr Calderon.
Against a backdrop of US and Mexican flags at the White House, Mr Calderon spoke mostly in Spanish, but finished his speech in English to address the question of whether the two nations could work together by echoing Mr Obama’s famous campaign slogan: “Yes we can.”
“We can do so if we create a safer border, a border that will unite us instead of dividing us, uniting our people,” he said.
“We can do so with a community that will promote a dignified life in an orderly way for both our countries.”
Cartel battles
The violent clashes caused by the drugs trade in Mexico are also likely to feature in discussions.
President Calderon has praised the US administration for its recognition that many of the guns used in crimes in Mexico stem from the US.
Under President Obama, the US has also gone further in acknowledging that the continuing high demand for drugs in the US is fuelling the battles between different cartels in Mexico.
Mr Obama is expected to address border security, a sore topic for the US after three people linked to the US consulate in Ciudad Juarez were shot dead in March.
The two leaders will also discuss climate change and strengthening trade links, topics they broadly agree on and are likely to announce a number of initiatives on.
On Thursday, Mr Calderon will address a joint session of Congress.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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