RS
FRONT PAGE CONTRIBUTOR
Did Barack Obama promise Mexico’s president he would open the borders?
It depends who you\'re reading.
On Monday, Mexican President Felipe Calderón met with President-elect Barack Obama. What was said, while not a matter of controversy, is being reported differently by papers on either side of America’s southern border.
Here are the headlines:
Obama plans to bring together families of migrants
The president-elect of the United States is committed to the president Felipe Calderón to achieving a comprehensive immigration reform that includes the unification of families.
That’s from El Mundo, a Mexican daily (translation by Google).
Calderón Offers Advice to Obama
Mexican Leader Urges Action to Improve U.S. Image Abroad
That one is from today’s WaPo.
WaPo
The WaPo story focused on Calderón’s views on free trade (he’s a huge fan of NAFTA, which Obama did/didn’t want to “renegotiate” at various points on the campaign trail) and the current war against Mexico’s notorious drug cartels. Calderó, who has profusely praised President Bush for not backing away from the war on drugs, implored Obama to do even more to “limit arms trafficking and reduce drug consumption.”
The only mention by the WaPo of “immigration reform,” as the legalization of those who have illegally crossed the border and taken up residence here in the U.S. is referred to by the Orwellian MSM, came in the story’s 7th and 8th paragraphs:
Calderón, who favors U.S. immigration reform, said Obama cautioned him about “obstacles and difficulties in the [U.S.] political arena.” About half of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States are Mexican. The U.S. economic slowdown has made it more difficult for many of them to send home money, and some have returned to their native country because they cannot find work here.
ad_iconCalderón said he has a plan to create 300,000 jobs in Mexico in the next six months. “My dream is to see a Mexico in 20, 30 years or less where nobody will need to go out of the country for economic reasons,” he said.
El Mundo
The president-elect of the United States, Barack Obama, pledged to the president Felipe Calderón to achieving a comprehensive immigration reform that includes the unification of families.
Calderon said that despite the obstacles and difficulties that exist in Congress and in U.S. public opinion, Obama is committed to advancing the implementation of immigration law by all, without exception, including the situation of Mexicans already in that country.
So, which is it? Did Obama “pledge” to the Mexican president that the families of illegal immigrants would be allowed to follow them over (or that the family members of legal immigrants would be allowed to slide in the southern door without waiting their turn like law-abiding citizens), as El Mundo appears to be saying, or was there naught but lip service paid to the subject (touching on “obstacles and difficulties in the [U.S.] political arena”) and no promises made?
Which media do you trust more — Mexico’s or America’s? Is there even a difference?

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