WASHINGTON — With the immigration debate raging in both their countries, President Barack Obama and Mexico's Felipe Calderon will reaffirm their commitment to comprehensive immigration reform during the Mexican leader's state visit here Wednesday.
While immigration has long been a source of tension between the U.S. and Mexico, the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona threatens to add strain to the relationship. Obama has promised to start work on reform, but he's also warned that lawmakers may not have the appetite to take on the sensitive issue this year.
Calderon has vowed to push for immigration reform during his trip to Washington. He's facing pressure from some Mexican lawmakers to consider breaking commercial ties with Arizona, and his government has issued a travel warning for the Arizona, warning that migrants face an adverse political environment there.
Obama has called the Arizona law "misguided" and has asked the Justice Department to review the law.
A senior administration official said the U.S. expects a series of concrete steps on immigration to come out of Wednesday's meetings that build on work done this year to open new border crossings and invest in the modernization of existing crossings. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely ahead of the meetings.
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