In an interview conducted by USA Today, Felipe Calderon, the former president of Mexico, says that Mexico needs to develop an immigration system that is a lot more flexible than its current incarnation to put an end to illegal immigration to the United States.
Calderon, who is attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, praised the decision made by President Obama to issue an executive order to protect many undocumented Mexican immigrants from the threat of deportation; however, he says that he fears the immigrants’ relief may be cut short. “The Republican Congress could reverse [Obama’s executive action] for political revenge,” Calderon notes, pointing out that such an action would spell disaster for Mexicans living in the United States.
On Tuesday President Obama delivered his State of the Union address in which he made it clear that any bill passed by Congress to attempt to reverse his executive action on immigration reform would be vetoed. Migration to the US slowed considerably in Calderon’s time as president of Mexico due to his nation’s strengthening economy but picked up again three years ago, in 2012, following the start of the recession in the United States.
Mexicans who migrate to the US are just “looking just for an opportunity for more revenue,” Calderon says. “They’re not looking for a new country with a new family.” Many Mexicans are then forced to stay in the US, however, as they fear to encounter legal problems if they try to return home.