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White House visit by Mexican president spotlights immigration reform’s tough political road

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It is one of the ironies of politics that it often takes upping the flame on a problem to get anything done. But that increased temperature often makes it harder to find a political solution.

Take immigration reform.

When Arizona passed its law allowing authorities increased powers to question those they believe to be undocumented workers, it turned up the heat on immigration overhaul, a problem Congress was prepared to push off, at the very lest, until after the midterm elections. There was no political consensus before Arizona acted and there is none now, or at least none that can be expected to win the kind of bipartisan support needed for passage this year.

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“I don’t have 60 votes in the Senate,” President Obama said on Wednesday at a White House Rose Garden news conference with Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon by his side. “I’ve got to have some support from Republicans … I don’t expect to get every Republican vote, but I need some help in order to get it done.”

Both Obama and Calderon were sharply critical of the Arizona law, which Obama called a “misdirected effort -- a misdirected expression of frustration over our broken immigration system, and which has raised concerns in both our countries.”

As a visitor, Calderon walked a fine line between respect and his political need to speak bluntly about protecting his citizens in a foreign country.

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“In Mexico, we are and will continue being respectful of the internal policies of the United States and its legitimate right to establish in accordance to its Constitution whatever laws it approves,” he said. “But we will retain our firm rejection to criminalize migration so that people that work and provide things to this nation will be treated as criminals. And we oppose firmly the S.B. 1070 Arizona law given in fair principles that are partial and discriminatory.”

Obama was clear about what he sees as the shape of political compromise for redefining federal immigration law:

“No. 1, that the federal government takes its responsibilities for securing our border seriously,” he said. He went on to praise his administration’s increased efforts but called for more resources to increase border security.

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“The second thing we’ve got to do is we’ve got to make sure that businesses are following the rules and are not actively recruiting undocumented workers so that they don’t have to abide by overtime laws, they don’t have to abide by minimum wage laws, they don’t have to abide by worker safety laws and otherwise undercut basic worker protections that exist. And they have to be held accountable and responsible,” Obama said.

Then the president turned his attention to the undocumented workers themselves, whose numbers are estimated to be upwards of 12 million in the United States.

“The third thing we have to do is to make sure that those who have come to this country illegally are held accountable. And that means they need to pay a fine, they need to pay back taxes. I believe they should learn English. I believe that it is important for them to get to the back of the line and not in the front, but that we create a pathway so that they have an opportunity, if they are following the rules, following the law, to become legal residents and ultimately citizens of this country.”

Obama said Congress approached dealing with that type of package in 2007 under the bipartisan bill sponsored by Arizona’s Sen. John McCain and the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
“If we can re-create that atmosphere -- I don’t expect to get every Republican vote, but I need some help in order to get it done. And there have been people who have expressed an interest. But if they’re willing to come forward and get a working group and get this moving, I’m actually confident that we can get it done,” Obama said.

The odds remain against immigration reform this year. McCain, who would have been a leader on the issue, is facing a tough challenge from his right for another term. He has already announced his support of his state’s immigration effort.

There is also scant likelihood of any bipartisan effort in what is becoming an even more unyielding Congress facing an anti-incumbent electorate this year. The testy voter mood makes it less likely that politicians will be willing to act.

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Polls show that almost twice as many Americans support the Arizona law as oppose it. An Associated Press-GfK poll this month found that 42 % favored the Arizona law, while 24 % opposed it and another 29 % said they were neutral.

-- Michael Muskal

twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

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