Mexico and Canada Tussle Over Immigration

It continues to amaze me that Mexico blames their own problems on it's neighbors to the north. Mexico has to start to acknowledge their internal problems, correct them, and most of these tussles would be avoided.

Mexico and Canada Tussle Over Immigration

By MARC LACEY

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Ahead of President Obama’s arrival in Mexico on Sunday night for a summit meeting of North American leaders, immigration was prompting significant behind-the-scenes debate. But it was Mexicans entering Canada, not the United States, that was the contentious issue.

Too many Mexicans, the Canadian government complained, were fraudulently claiming political asylum in Canada, overwhelming the system. So Canada announced last month that it would begin requiring Mexican nationals to secure visas before entering the country, a decision that sparked outrage in Mexico.

The Mexicans struck back with an announcement that Canadian diplomats and government officials would now require visas to enter Mexico.

Although some angry Mexican lawmakers urged President Felipe Calderon to go further and require visas for all Canadian visitors, Mr. Calderon held off, not wanting to further damage Mexico’s tourism industry, which relies heavily on North American visitors.

Aides to Mr. Calderon said he planned to use his one-one-one meeting Sunday with Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime minister, to push Canada to reconsider its decision. No breakthrough was expected, though, with Canadian officials saying beforehand that they did not plan to immediately change the policy.

The annual summit, an outgrowth of North American Free Trade Agreement signed in 1994, is designed to put the United States and its northern and southern neighbors on the same page when it comes to policy. In fact, officials said Mr. Obama, Mr. Calderon and Mr. Harper intended to forge common strategies for climate change, fighting the swine flu virus and responding to the debilitating economic crisis.

read the rest >http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/world/americas/10prexy.html?_r=1